Customer Satisfaction with Cell Phone Banking in South Africa

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors influencing satisfaction with cell phone banking in South Africa. The study followed a qualitative approach in which in-depth interviews were conducted with a set of South African cell phone banking users. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the data. It was confirmed that factors known to influence satisfaction with other electronic services such as Internet banking were of relevance for cell phone banking too, i.e. Service Quality; Information Quality, System Quality; Transaction and Payment Quality, Perceived Usefulness, Innovativeness, Trust and Security. In addition it was found that prior electronic banking experience, the type of phone used and the type of banking service employed play a secondary role in influencing customer cell phone banking satisfaction. These findings are discussed and implications drawn

Awareness, Acceptance and Usage of Mobile Banking Services by Academic Librarians in Nigeria.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which academic librarians are aware and use mobile banking services in Nigeria. The study used the quantitative research design. Data was collected using online questionnaire designed using SurveyMonkey. The population of the study consisted of academic librarians in tertiary institutions in Nigeria who are customers to various banks in Nigeria. In total 210 academic librarians across Nigeria responded to the survey. The study found that the majority of the academic librarians are aware and mostly used mobile banking services such as buying airtime (self), transfer money, check account balance, get account statement, buy airtime for others, make transaction enquiry, and SMS alerts. Almost all the academic librarians agree and strongly agree that adoption of mobile banking services hasten funds transfer, makes enquiries on account faster, saves time of the customers, enhance prompt response, more convenient to customers, and saves cost. Network failure during transactions, chances of fraud, lack of information privacy, concerns related to non-delivery of transactions, system security is not guaranteed in case of loss of phone where identified as the challenges associated with use of mobile banking services in Nigeria. Adoption and use of mobile banking services will save the time of the customer by conducting their transactions quickly without having to queue up and to use paper documents. The study reported the present level of awareness, acceptance and use of mobile banking services by academic librarians who are customers to various banks in Nigeria

Internet banking adoption decisions and e-service quality of rural customers

Published ThesisWorldwide, banks are embracing information technology because of the rapid development in this field. In South Africa, banks have continued to supplement traditional over-the-counter banking with online banking in line with this global trend. Owing to factors unique to developing countries, however, internet banking adoption has not been as rapid as was expected. In particular, Internet banking adoption in rural areas remains problematic, and it is difficult to determine how rural customers are experiencing the quality of internet banking services. The purpose of the study was, therefore, to explore internet banking characteristics and factors influencing internet banking adoption and its relationship with the e-service quality, with specific reference to banking customers residing in rural areas of South Africa. The research study was conducted in positivist paradigm and was quantitative in nature. A survey design was used and self-administered questionnaires were distributed to banking customers residing in a rural area of South Africa. The final sample consisted of 390 banking customers who are using internet banking or who have knowledge of internet banking. The questionnaires were distributed personally by the researcher with the assistance of trained field workers. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that dimensions of innovation characteristics such compatibility, trialability and observability had moderate scores, but relative advantage and complexity had low scores. The results also showed that various factors influencing internet banking adoption, such as convenience, prior knowledge and usage, security, perceived risk and information, had low scores. The following dimensions of e-service quality received low scores, namely efficiency, system availability, fulfilment, privacy, loyalty intention and perceived value. It was only the contact dimension of e-service quality that was perceived positively. The Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation results indicated a medium and positive correlation between e-Service Quality and Innovation Characteristics, and a small, significant correlation was found between e-Service Quality and Factors Influencing Internet Banking Adoption. In view of the dearth of literature on internet banking in South Africa, the implications of this study are that the rate of internet banking adoption in rural areas should be accelerated. This study could provide useful assistance for retail banks to develop appropriate strategies to increase the internet banking adoption rate of rural customers

Service recovery and customer delight : examination of differences between customers in different spending categories

Abstract: Customer delight is known to exert positive significant influence on levels of customer loyalty even in service recovery situations. This study aimed at examining differences between lower and higher spending customers of cell-phone network service providers in their response to service recovery efforts. Data used in the analysis was collected from 540 customers from Gauteng, South Africa using a structured questionnaire. The findings show significant differences between lower and higher spending customers in their levels of customer delight following service recovery efforts. Lower spending customers were specifically found to show higher level of delight compared to higher spending customers. The findings point to the need for managers to take cognisance of the fact that service recovery efforts may have different effects on different customer segments. Managers need to identify recovery strategies that are appropriate for different customer segments and monitor their effectiveness in ensuring customer delight following service recovery efforts

Cell Phone Banking: Revisiting Predictors of Adoption in South Africa

More South African cell phone users now turn their mobile phones into platform for several financial transactions rather than their personal computers. The penetration of cell phone banking has more than doubled in the past few years. This study provides an update on the earlier study conducted by Brown et al. (2003) on the predictors of adoption of cell phone banking in South Africa. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among cell phone banking users that consisted of students, and workers from various fields of employment. A total of 220 questionnaires were gathered from the sampled population of cell phone banking customers. The data were analysed through partial least square with structural equation as well as regression splines. This article examines the most important predictors influencing cell phone banking adoption in South Africa. The results show that utility expectancy and user satisfaction are playing a determinant role in the adoption behaviour of users in South Africa

Predictors Of Customer Loyalty To Mobile Service Provider In South Africa

In spite of the increasing research on consumer behaviour, there is a dearth of studies that have investigated the influence of mobile provider service quality in customer satisfaction regarding customer trust and loyalty in the African mobile communication context. Therefore, this study examines the relationships using a data set of 151 mobile service clients in Gauteng Province of South Africa. All the posited five hypotheses are supported. The results indicate that the relationships between mobile service quality-customer satisfaction, customer satisfaction-customer trust, customer satisfaction-customer intimacy, customer trust-customer loyalty, and customer intimacy-customer loyalty are positive in a significant way. The research paper discusses both academic and managerial implications of the results and future research directions are suggested

Financial Services for the Poor: Lack of Personal Identification Documents Impedes Access

Without a birth certificate, no identity card can be issued and without identity card, there is no access to formal financial services. This link seems to be trivial in industrialized countries, where the ability of the individual to participate in economic life is rarely hindered by a lack of identification. In many developing countries, however, access to financial services is often denied, because potential customers cannot be identified based upon official identity documents-a basic due diligence requirement under international anti-money laundering regulations. In many developing and emerging countries, poor people have no opportunity to obtain such documents, as a large portion of the population has not been registered at birth. Without a birth certificate, however, no identity card can be issued, which is required by banks for customer identity verification. To date, the problem of identification has not played a prominent role in research concerning access to financial services. In the past, researchers have primarily focused on microfinance. In order to expand access to formal financial services, new methods for customer identification must be developed which address the realities in developing countries. Initial steps to expand access for the poor population have already been taken in countries such as India and South Africa. Aside from addressing problems associated with missing identification, it is also necessary to introduce basic financial products such as micro accounts, where the low risk associated with them is taken into account. Less demanding identification means for low-risk financial products ought to be internationally recognized and instituted in order to dispel legal ambiguities.

An investigation into the service delivery by commercial banks in South Africa

Thesis (D. Tech.) -- Central University of Technology, Free State, 200

The Remittances Framework in Lesotho: Assessment of Policies and Programmes Promoting the Multiplier Effect

This study explored policies and programmes aimed at facilitating remittances inflows through formal channels and leveraging remittances for development in Lesotho. The study also looked into regulations and laws on remittances. In order to answer key questions of this study, semi‐structured questionnaires were administered to 29 institutions, including commercial banks, an asset manager, insurance companies, telecommunication companies, government ministries, parastatals, a research institution, a retailer, a savings and credit cooperative and non-governmental organizations. The gaps revealed by this study can be summarised as: the Deferred Pay Act is the only policy driving officially recorded remittance inflows to Lesotho and which facilitated the creation of remittances‐linked savings product by the banking sector; there are restrictions on remittance outflows for immigrants working in the country, though planned to be eliminated; most of remittances transfer products offered by various institutions suit regular income earners with bank accounts, the adoption of mobile‐phone based transfers adoption is low and the mobile‐phone based transfer products cannot be used to make international transfers; there is lack of adoption of remittances‐linked financial products by financial intermediaries and relevant government ministries; the benefits packaged with the remittances‐ linked savings accounts are less attractive; and most of the remittances services providers are concentrated in urban centres. These findings show there is a need to develop policies and programmes for harnessing remittances for development. This study concluded by suggesting policy options for facilitating remittances inflows through regular channels and promoting positive impact of remittances on development

Contracts versus relationship intention as indicator of customer trust in and commitment to cell phone service providers: An exploratory study

Social exchange theory postulates long-term customer-company relationships are built on trust and commitment. Cell phone service providers seek to secure the trust and commitment of their customers through service contracts. Relationship intention (RI) is a more precise measure of customer trust and commitment. This paper compares the trust of cell phone service customers and their commitment to cell phone service providers based on customers’ contract status and RI classification. Data from 1,473 cell phone customers from South Africa (n = 589) and the Philippines (n = 884) were analyzed. The study shows for both the South African and Philippine samples that there is no relationship between respondents’ contract status and their trust in or commitment to cell phone service providers and that trust in or commitment to cell phone service providers is significantly higher among high relationship intention (HRI) customers than among low relationship intention (LRI) customers. RI is a stronger indicator of customers’ trust in and commitment to cell phone service providers than contracts in both countries. This makes HRI customers more receptive to relationship marketing strategies than customers with contracts or LRI customers, as HRI customers trust and commit to cell phone service providers significantly more