The combination of digital technology and finance has brought about a new development model for financial inclusion. What impact will it have on the current imbalance in the distribution of financial resources and the urban-rural income gap in China? To answer this question, this paper uses relevant data from 2014–2018 to study the impact of digital inclusive finance on the urban-rural income gap from the theory of financial exclusion, and analyzes the transmission of digital inclusive finance through alleviating financial exclusion, widening financing channels and helping residents with entrepreneurial spirit to start their own businesses, thus increasing jobs, raising the income of rural residents and reducing the urban-rural income gap. The conclusions are as follows: (1) digital inclusive finance can significantly converge the urban-rural income gap; (2) among the dimensions of digital inclusive finance, only the breadth of coverage can significantly reduce the urban-rural income gap, while the effects of depth of use and digitalization are not significant; (3) digital inclusive finance can alleviate the urban-rural income gap through the transmission mechanism of promoting residents’ entrepreneurship; (4) the worse the regional economic development and education, the better the effect of digital inclusive finance on the urban-rural income gap. This paper combines the above results to propose corresponding policy recommendations.

Digital financial inclusion (DFI) helps to narrow the income gap between urban and rural areas, but path dependence may lead to spatial agglomeration in the development of DFI, causing the spatial effect on the urban–rural income gap. This study mainly examines the mechanism and effect of DFI on the urban–rural income gap in China, including its spatial effect issues. Results show that China’s DFI has different impacts on the urban–rural income gap in the east, central, and western regions, showing evident spatial heterogeneity. In addition, the development of DFI has spatial agglomeration, and its impact on China’s urban–rural income gap also has a spatial spillover effect. Moreover, the spatial effect of DFI is mainly because of the path dependence on the development of traditional finance and digital technology. The spatial correlation between them is transmitted to DFI, and the impact of digital technology development is greater. Finally, corresponding policy recommendations are proposed based on the conclusions.