<p>This study evaluates the degree of financial inclusion across Ecuador’s cantons in 2021 by constructing a composite index based on Spatial Principal Components Analysis. The index is designed to preserve spatial structure, enabling a territorial coherent interpretation of access and usage patterns. Cantons are subsequently classified into high and low levels of business and financial density, which serve as indicators of local economic and financial stratification. In addition, to examine the determinants of cantonal financial inclusion, the study estimates benchmark Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and instrumental-variable Two-Stage Least Squares (IV–2SLS) models, the latter addressing the potential endogeneity of financial density. The results reveal non-random spatial clustering and territorial disparities in financial inclusion across cantons. In the determinants analysis, financial density emerges as the most robust positive predictor, while business density is also positively associated with financial inclusion in the benchmark OLS specification. By contrast, once territorial covariates are incorporated, the baseline Queen spatial diagnostics do not indicate residual spatial dependence. These findings suggest that the spatial structure of financial inclusion in Ecuador is primarily associated with territorial uneven covariates rather than with a robust residual spatial process. The results underscore the importance of territorial differentiated policies to address cantonal disparities in financial inclusion.</p>