Factors Influencing People’s Intention to Adopt E-Banking: An Empirical Study of Consumers in Shandong Province, China

E-Banking is growing at an unprecedented rate and has become a truly worldwide phenomenon, offering convenience, flexibility and interactivity for those that can, and know how to access it. This is clearly evidence in China. However, despite such growth and popularity, some users still have reservations about using Information and communication technology (ICT) in their daily banking activities, perhaps due to deep routed cultural factors that cause consumers to question the efficacy of such changes. Through the application of a technology acceptance framework, and empirical evidence from 52 E-Banking user questionnaires and four key market segment interviews, the research explores the factors that influence consumers’ intention to adopt E-Banking in Shandong Province of China. The findings highlight that perceived usefulness and perceived credibility are significant factors which have a positive influence on consumers’ intention to utilise E-Banking, while perceived ease of use and perceived cost are less significant. Unpacking the reasons for resistance to the use of E-Banking highlighted that “difficult to operate”, “unnecessary to use it” and “worry about the security” are key drivers and therefore challenges for the service providers. Based on the results, recommendations are drawn for banks, involving focusing on the significant factors, avoiding weaknesses and optimising strengths of E-Banking and ultimately developing more accurate market positioning strategies to align and manage consumer expectations and maximise potential acceptance

Customer behaviours and online banking in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Banking at Massey University, Manawatū campus, New Zealand

Recent technological developments in the financial sector have led to renewed interest in studying bank-customer relationships. The present study examined the effects of six demographic characteristics (i.e. age, gender, household income, education, employment and marital status) on the use of online banking in New Zealand. Three research questions were addressed: How do different personal characteristics affect customers’ use of online banking? How do these characteristics interact with each other in affecting customers’ use of online banking? and How do different characteristics affect the key factors that form users’ perceptions of online banking usefulness? We used a three-pronged data collection methodology including four focus group discussions an online survey and twenty-six qualitative interviews. The survey was taken by 758 respondents and the completion rate was 76%. A range of descriptive and empirical analytics were used and strong effects of customer demographics on online banking use were found. The explanatory power of the six characteristics was examined using stepwise backward regression modelling while ANOVA tests confirmed interactive effects between combinations of characteristics. Through Principal component analysis, we identified a subset of four key constructs to represent the major areas of themes where customer perceptions differ regarding the use of online banking. Ordinal logit regression determined how perceptions differ on the basis of the differences in demographics. Academically, this research examines the predictive utility of demographic characteristics in explaining New Zealanders’ use of online banking technologies from both banking and marketing perspectives. Expanding on demographic relationships as proxies for deeper drivers of behaviours, this study offers practical lessons for effective segmentation and engagement strategies. It reminds banks that understanding customer personas is the first step to effective targeting or personalization. This is critical in developing customer-centric banking in New Zealand and other regions

Trust, Security and Perceived Risk Models for Designing Internet Banking

This research assesses the behaviour patterns of existing bank customers towards Internet banking service in the UK (non-adopters and adopters), and their continuing usage or abandonment of service. The study also develops a theoretical model for trust, risks and Internet banking security, to achieve safety in the area of Internet banking services. Specifically, the majority of existing studies neglect patterns of post-adoption (continued use and abandonment of use) of Internet banking; focusing instead on either adoption or acceptance of internet banking (pre-adoption). The research in this thesis responds to this gap in the existing literature, offering a reassessment of the authentic use of Internet banking services in the UK. It does so by exploring the influence of trust, perceived risk, and security concerns, on customers’ behaviour and intention to use or not use Internet banking services. To address the study aims, it first develops conceptual frameworks. These encompass trust, security and perceived risk factors, and identification, and determine what influences consumers in their non-adoption, adoption, continued use, or abandonment of Internet banking. The study investigates customers located in Leicester city, and applies a quantitative research design, using a survey as the primary means of data collection. There were eight hundred and thirty eight valid copies (838) of the questionnaire, comprising a sample of 503 Internet banking users, 291 non-users of Internet banking and 44 abandoners of Internet banking. III A combination of simple regressions, correlation coefficients and frequencies (Categorical Variables), was used to analyse the data, by subjecting it to statistical analysis software SPSS. Initial statistical results displayed that 34.7% of the study sample were non-users of Internet banking, with Internet banking services abandonees being a minority. They represented just 5.30%, i.e. 44 customers from an overall study sample of 838. For them, trust, security and perceived risk were significant influences. Similarly, in adoption and continuity models, 60% of active users mentioned that trust has a low effect on their intentions for Internet banking adoption, while security and perceived risk had a very low influence on service adoption. On the other hand, the findings demonstrated that one-third of the users sampled mentioned other Internet banking adoption factors besides trust, namely: convenience, ease of use, saving time, ease of access, good monitoring and control of accounts, and speed when performing transactions. With regard to the continuity of usage, 87% of service users agree, or strongly agreed, about their future intentions regarding continuity. Reasons for continued use of Internet banking were trust, security and perceived risk. Additionally statistical analysis found weak relationships between perceived intentions and three factors. Further, the findings also highlighted that the relationships between demographic characteristics and customers’ trust, security and perceived risk were weak in three areas (Non-users, Abandoners and Users). One of the main contributions of this study is the development of a safety area model for Internet banking usage. The safety aspects identified were trust, security and low-risk degree between 53%, 51% and 9%, according to customers’ recommendations. IV This model will serve as a basis for future studies, to determine safety area in which to exercise Internet banking. However, the usefulness of this may vary from one environment to another and by time. Overall, the research contributes to knowledge and understanding of Internet banking patterns during two phases: pre-adoption and post-adoption of services (non-adoption, abandonment, adoption and continuity of use).Moreover, the research findings and insights will help bank executives, developers, academics, managers, and stakeholders, to formulate strategies and service frameworks to induce clients to accept services. Furthermore, maximising productivity and profitability through the creation of sustainable relationships in the long term with users will improve their satisfaction and retention. Bank administrators and decision makers should take advantage of the safety area model, and consider the views and recommendations of customers

E-banking operational risk assessment. A soft computing approach in the context of the Nigerian banking industry.

This study investigates E-banking Operational Risk Assessment (ORA) to enable the development of a new ORA framework and methodology. The general view is that E-banking systems have modified some of the traditional banking risks, particularly Operational Risk (OR) as suggested by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in 2003. In addition, recent E-banking financial losses together with risk management principles and standards raise the need for an effective ORA methodology and framework in the context of E-banking. Moreover, evaluation tools and / or methods for ORA are highly subjective, are still in their infant stages, and have not yet reached a consensus. Therefore, it is essential to develop valid and reliable methods for effective ORA and evaluations. The main contribution of this thesis is to apply Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) and Tree Augmented Naïve Bayes (TAN) classifier as standard tools for identifying OR, and measuring OR exposure level. In addition, a new ORA methodology is proposed which consists of four major steps: a risk model, assessment approach, analysis approach and a risk assessment process. Further, a new ORA framework and measurement metrics are proposed with six factors: frequency of triggering event, effectiveness of avoidance barriers, frequency of undesirable operational state, effectiveness of recovery barriers before the risk outcome, approximate cost for Undesirable Operational State (UOS) occurrence, and severity of the risk outcome. The study results were reported based on surveys conducted with Nigerian senior banking officers and banking customers. The study revealed that the framework and assessment tools gave good predictions for risk learning and inference in such systems. Thus, results obtained can be considered promising and useful for both E-banking system adopters and future researchers in this area