A Survey on the Quality of Brazilian Internet Banking Sites

This study aimed to evaluate the quality of Internet Banking Sites. It is a descriptive and quantitative study. The research model was based on WebQual model, consisting of three constructs and 16 variables, and served as a guide for the remaining steps of the research. We used a survey as a method of collecting data. A questionnaire was applied to 110 customers, which represented a non-probability sample. The statistical techniques used were the Factor Analysis and Fischer’s Exact Test. Through them it was possible to identify the three most important factors for determining the quality of Internet Banking Sites, which are in order of importance: Ease of Use, Usefulness and Innovation and Creativity of sites. Additionally, it was possible to identify the relationship between the size of Banks and the Usefulness of their web sites, and between innovation and creativity of the web site and age of the respondents. The study has limitations related to the method, the instrument and sampling, which does not allow statistical generalizations

Globalization and E-Commerce V: Environment and Policy in Brazil

In Brazil, high inflation rates and public policies for local information technology (IT) development encouraged the early adoption of IT, including electronic data interchange (EDI), especially in the banking industry. Starting in the early 1970s, Brazil developed capabilities both in the production and use of information technologies. Mexico and Brazil are the only Latin American countries with substantial IT hardware production. Since inflation control became the highest priority in economic policy in the 1990s, the Brazilian economy has grown at a relatively slow pace compared to historical growth rates. Brazil ranks third in the Americas in GDP value. However, in per capita terms, it falls behind the top five wealthiest countries in Latin America. Education levels increased substantially in the last decade. Primary education is almost universal (95.7%). 78.5% of the population in the secondary education age group is enrolled, compared to less than 60% in 1992. In 2000, investments in telecommunications as a percentage of the GDP were the highest in Latin America. In the last four years, fixed line teledensity doubled while cellular subscribers quintupled. In per capita terms, Brazil is now at the Latin American average, both in fixed lines and cellular phones. In 2000, teledensity was about 23 fixed lines per 100 people, 15% of whom were connected to the Internet. The development of the Internet in Brazil was somewhat similar to the NSF Net program in the United States. The National Research Network (RNP) began to operate a national backbone in 1991. In 1996, the backbone became available for commercial purposes. The government is active in promoting e-commerce diffusion, especially through the e-government initiative. This initiative includes on-line purchasing, government information, tax collection, and other applications. However, government programs lack coordination and resources. The use of the Internet as a business tool is most advanced in information- related sectors such as finance, communications, information services, and other services that can easily be digitized. The banking sector leads e-commerce diffusion, followed by government and retailing. Consumers in countries such as Brazil are increasingly demanding products from Web sites located in their own countries. To succeed in the Brazilian e-commerce market, multinational Internet companies need to invest in local content and distribution networks. Although the diffusion of the Internet presents many opportunities for social development, notably in the fields of education, health, and information, the future growth of e-commerce in Brazil may be limited by social and economic factors such as income level, income distribution, and education

Information and communication technology (ICT) for development of small and medium-sized exporters in Latin America: Brazil

Includes bibliograph

Financial Regulation and Transparency of Information: first steps on new land

This article examines the relationship between the level of regulation and transparency of financial institutions from 37 countries and the impacts of the subprime crisis on the stock market, through a regulation and transparency index. Furthermore, with the objective of detecting reasons for the success of some emerging economies in avoiding the crisis, empirical evidence for the presence of market discipline in the Brazilian banking industry is shown. The results are that a higher degree of regulation and transparency is related to higher returns and lower volatility in the stock market during the subprime crisis. Moreover, one of the main reasons for the apparent success of the Brazilian case in facing the crisis is the combination of a strong regulation of the financial system and the presence of market discipline.

Mobile banking and mobile payment acceptance

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Information Management, specialization in Information and Decision SystemsTechnological advancements registered in the last three decades have revolutionized the financial industry, promoting major changes in the financial services provided. The spread of Internet-enabled phones, smart phones and tablets combined with fast and reliable communications networks, have encourage banks and service providers to provide a new set of self-service banking applications to mobile devices. These facts combined with the globalisation of business and systems are reinforcing the need to acquire a deeper understand on the impact of the acceptance of mobile services. With this dissertation we intend to contribute to a better understanding of the determinants of mobile banking and mobile payments services acceptance and use, at individual level. For this reason we developed a total of five different studies; four about mobile banking and one about the mobile payment. We started in chapter two with a mobile banking literature weight and meta-analysis. The impact of culture in the mobile banking acceptance in an African developing country is analysed in chapter three, trying to better identify how culture influences individual use behaviour. In chapter four we study the mobile payment, trying to identify the direct and indirect effects on the determinants of adoption and the intention to recommend this technology. In chapter five we return to mobile banking, intending to identify the potential impact of the utilization of game mechanics and game design techniques in the acceptance of these services. In the fifth and last study, presented in chapter six, we analyse data from three different countries in three distinct continents, combining acceptance with trust and risk, simultaneously capturing success and resistance factors towards mobile banking intention and use behaviour. In epistemological terms, we adopted a posture characteristic of positivism. With regard the theoretical framework, besides the weight and meta-analysis study, we use the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) (Venkatesh et al., 2012) in all the studies; namely combining it with (i) cultural moderators (Hofstede, 1980) in the third chapter, (ii) the innovation characteristics of the diffusion of innovations (DOI) (Rogers, 2003), the perceived technology security, and the intention to recommend constructs in the fourth chapter, (iii) a gamification impact construct in the fifth chapter, and (iv) trust and risk model (Bélanger & Carter, 2008) in the sixth chapter. This work provides several contributions for research and practice, contributing to the advancement of knowledge, exploring and discussing direct implications for banks, financial institutions, service providers, service managers, IT and marketing departments, users, and researchers. The innovative models that we use in our work combine the strengths and constructs from well-known theoretical models, providing a solid foundation to our studies. In summary, considering all studies and datasets used, the intention best drivers were (i) habit, found significant in three studies and five datasets and (ii) performance expectancy, found significant in all five studies and in six datasets, and in the use best drivers were (i) habit, found significant in three studies and five datasets and (ii) intention, found significant in two studies. Considering the studies individually, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, short term, and power distance were found to be the most significant cultural moderators, providing new insights into factors affecting the acceptation and how culture influences individual use behaviour. In terms of mobile payment, the relevance of customer’s intention to recommend mobile payment technology in social networks and other means of communication was confirmed, supporting the recommendation to include it in social marketing campaigns and in future technology adoption studies. A direct and strong relationship between gamification and intention was also confirmed, showing that, when used and designed properly, gamification can help make banking activities more exciting, more interesting, and more enjoyable, and in turn increase customer acceptance, engagement and satisfaction. From the multi-group analysis between countries additional results were found, supporting services customization and marketing campaigns adaptations accordingly. For the intention to use mobile banking, (i) performance expectancy is a more important factor for Portuguese than Brazilian users, (ii) hedonic motivation is a more important factor for Mozambican users than Portuguese or Brazilian ones, and (iii) price value is significant and more important for Mozambican than Portuguese users. For the use behaviour, (i) behavioural intention is a more important factor for Mozambican than Portuguese or Brazilian users and (ii) the facilitating conditions is a more important factor for Mozambican than Portuguese or Brazilian users. A theoretical model based in the best intention and use predictors found in literature is presented, from the weight and meta-analysis’ results, supporting further and future studies in this area

The Democratization of Finance through the Banking Revolution and Financial Technologies in Brazil

Every nation requires an adequate financial system to support the flow of funds between savers and borrowers, providing a safe and effective payment system. The Brazilian National Financial System (Sistema Financeiro Nacional - SFN) is recognized as one of the backbones of Brazilian development throughout the years, one of the explicit drivers of the ten largest world economies. Interestingly, institutions that established the country\u27s financial system are vulnerable to structural change driven by continuous development created through new ideas, new challenges, and new opportunities

Quality modeling in electronic healthcare: a study of mHealth Service

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the potential to radically transform health services in developing countries. Among various ICT driven health platforms, mobile health is the most promising one because of its widespread penetration and cost effective services. This paper aims to examine Quality Modeling in Electronic Healthcare by using PLS based SEM

Understanding the use of digital payments in Brazil: An analysis from the perspective of digital divide measures

This paper analyzes the factors that influence the use of digital payments in Brazil from the perspective of digital divide studies. For this purpose, the research uses the microdata of the 2019 edition of a Brazilian nationwide survey named ICT Households Survey. The main findings demonstrate that women, as well as users of low-income social class, were less likely to use digital payments. The results also indicate that although different studies highlight the relevance of mobile phones as a means to promote digital financial inclusion to low-income groups, this paper\u27s findings show that the exclusive use of mobile phones to access the Internet had a negative impact on the use of digital payments. These results demonstrate the need to better understand the implications of the exclusive use of this type of device in harnessing digital financial services in the context of developing countries of the global South