GHANA TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY COLLEGE (GTUC)

THE ASSESSMENT OF THE ADOPTION OF E-BANKING BY CUSTOMERS

IN THE BANKING SECTOR:A CASE STUDY OF ECO BANK GHANA

BY

Ayabe Ondzagha Akouma arry-Lewis

B050111031

Boukaka Lemba Digne Agenore

B050111021

A DISSERTIFICATION PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF

BANKING AND FINANCE OF FACULTY OF I.T BUSINESS, GHANA

TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY COLLEGE (GTUC) IN PARTIAL

FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF BSc.

BUSINESS ADIMINSITRATION MAJORS IN BANKING AND FINANCE

MAY 2014

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DECLARATION

We are hereby to declare that this dissertation is the result of our

own original work and that no part of it has been presented for

another degree in this university or elsewhere.

Candidate’s Signature:....................................................

Candidate’s Name..........................................................

Date: ..............................................................................

Candidate’s Signature:...................................................

Candidate’s Name..........................................................

Date: ..............................................................................

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I hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of the

thesis were supervised in accordance with the guidelines on

supervision of thesis laid down by Ghana technology University

College.

Supervisor’s Signature: .........................................................

Supervisor’s Name: ...............................................................

Date:.......................................................................................

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Our profound gratitude goes to God Almighty, most gracious, most merciful,

who gives wisdom, knowledge and understanding and makes all things

possible in His time.

We would like to thank our supervisor, Mr. Otu Larbi Siaw, who made

it possible for us to finish our research work. We are also grateful to the Head

of Department, for the valuable help and support throughout

this thesis.

We dedicate this work to our dad, Boukaka Gabriel Georges Massego,and our mums, Sabiyengui Josephine and Clementine Viviane, for their love and unwavering support both financially and emotionally throughout our years of education to this level. We express our heartfelt gratitude to all our siblings Mehola, Louanges, Sagesse, Fred Ngoulou, and for their love, unflinching support and prayers.

We will also like to acknowledge Pastor Osei-Wusu Joseph, Mr Nguith Christ , Miss Kani Goma-bilongo , Lina Kouandzi, Pamela Koundi and Edipha Nguimbi for being our coaches, mentors and spiritual parents. Their words and encouragement inspired us and spurred us on to greater heights.

A very special thanks goes to Brant Marley Ngouangui and Alban Moubeyi Ibala for always being there for me.

Finally, We would like to appreciate the entire 2014 Class for their support

during our research and our stay in Accra.

May God richly bless all those who have helped in diverse ways to make our

story a success! To God be the Glory!

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ABSTRACT

Electronic banking (e-banking) has brought about a revolution in the functioning of

banks as it offers major opportunities to banks and their customers. This has made the

transition to electronic banking a necessity for banks in order to be viable. Despite its

benefits, developing countries still lag behind in the adoption of electronic banking.

This study therefore seeks to examine the assessment of the adoption of e-banking by

customers in the Ghanaian banking industry with Eco bank as the case study to

identify the benefits, challenges and critical success factors for the adoption of e-

banking in the Ghanaian banking industry. The research made use of questionnaires

to collect data from staff and customers of Eco bank. The results of the study

indicated that e-banking adoption was a business strategy taken by the bank in

response to customer needs and the changing marketing trends in the banking

industry. The benefits, challenges and critical success factors of e- banking are also

identified and discussed. From the study it is obvious that tremendous benefits such as

revenue generation, improvement in productivity and efficiency in service delivery

and cost savings were derived from e- banking. The lack of a solid technology

infrastructure was identified as a major challenge of e-banking adoption in the

country. The study however revealed that there is a promising future for e-banking in

Ghana.Some recommendations to enhance the adoption of e banking in country are

made based on this study.

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Chapter 1:Introduction

The first chapter represents the research approach, background of the study,

motivation of the study, introduces the reader to the objective, problem research

question that leads us to our purpose. Subsequently it reports contribution of the

study and structure of the thesis.

1.1 Background of the study

Electronic banking is the use of electronic and telecommunication networks to

deliver a wide range of value added products and services to bank customers (Steven,

2002). In recent years, developments in information technology and the subsequent

evolution of Internet banking have fundamentally changed the ways in which banks

implement their business and consumers conduct their everyday banking activities

(Al-Somali et al., 2009; Eriksson et al., 2008; Sayar and Wolfe, 2007). Internet

banking allows customers to conduct a wide range of banking transactions

electronically via the bank’s website anytime and anywhere, faster, and with lower

fees compared to using traditional, real-world bank branches. However, despite the

continuing increase in the number of Internet users and despite all the apparent

advantages of Internet banking for customers, in many countries the growth rate of

Internet users who adopt Internet banking has not risen as strongly as expected (White

and Nteli, 2004). The increasing popularity and interest in using the Internet is driven

by its World Wide Web (WWW) subset and has created numerous opportunities for

many organizations, from small businesses to large corporations, including financial

institutions (Lall- mahamood, 2007; Chau and Lai, 2003; Rashid and AI-Qirim,

2001). Banks are currently gaining several benefits from WWW technology

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(Lallmahamood, 2007). In particular, banks and financial institutions that have

implemented WWW delivery of their services have captured a large share of the

financial market (Tan and Teo, 2000). Electronic banking refers to the use of the

Internet as a delivery channel for banking services, including traditional banking

services such as balance enquiry, printing statements, fund transfers to other accounts

and bill payments (Frust, Lang and Nolle, 2000) and new banking services such as

electronic regular payments and direct credit for salaries (Mukherjee and Nath, 2003).

Electronic banking has created new ways of banking in the main areas of distribution,

production, payment and trading (Jayawardhena and Foley, 2000).

From the viewpoint of banks, Electronic banking helps them to maintain profitable

growth through reducing operation and fixed costs (Hernando and Nieto, 2007; Chung

and Paynter, 2002). A simple transaction cost for a non-cash payment at a branch is

likely to cost a bank as much as 11 times more than the same transaction over the

Internet (Jayawardhena and Foley, 2000). In addition, Electronic banking enhances

marketing and communication, as it serves 24 hours a day and a customer can be

guided through a catalogue of products and services (Jaya- wardhena and Foley,

2000). Moreover, an Electronic banking system allows banks to expand their business

geographically without investing in the establishment of new branches and, as a

result, the customer base is broadened (Giannakoudi, 1999). Venkatesh, Morris, and

Davis (2003) noted that the successful implementation of information systems is

dependent on the extent to which such a system is used and eventually adapted by the

potential users. Information system implementation is not likely to be considered

successful if users are unmotivated to use that type of technology, and thus it will not

bring full benefits to the organization. In order to motivate customers to use electronic

banking, banks must make key improvements that address the customers' concerns.

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From the viewpoint of consumers, Electronic banking is attractive because of its

convenience and lower fees. Electronic banking users can perform financial

transactions at anytime and anywhere without queuing at bank branches (Sayar and

Wolfe, 2007). It also offers better rates on deposits and loans enabling the cost

savings to be passed on to consumers (Polasik and Wisniewski, 2009). Furthermore,

Electronic banking provides customers with rapid transaction updating, information

richness (Palmer, 2002; Shapiro, 1999), speedy transaction access (Mavri and

Loannou, 2006) and absolute self-service (Eriksson and Nilsson, 2007). It has become

one of the most popular banking channels and providing Electronic banking is

perceived to be a vital strategy for customer retention and remaining competitive for

banks and financial institutions (Kim, Widdows and Yilmazer, 2005).

In Ghana, most banks are adopting Electronic banking mainly because; it is the

innovative way of banking.

Eco bank Ghana is a commercial bank in Ghana. It is one of the commercial banks

licensed by the Bank of Ghana. EBG is a member of the Pan-African Eco bank chain,

which operates in thirty two (32) countries in Ghana eco bank get 52 branches across

the country. The bank is a fully networked commercial bank in Ghana with branches

in almost all regions of the nation. Those are Electronic banking services that eco

bank can offer to their customers in Ghana

• Online and real-time account information

• Account Statements downloadable in Excel, MS-Money and PDF formats

• Account history

• Term deposits

• Loan/Standing Instruction Enquiries

• Balance enquiry

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• Transaction details

1.2 Statement of Problem

An in-depth analysis would help to understand that Internet enabled electronic bank

system differentiates from traditional banking operation through faster delivery of

information from the customer and service provider. Additionally, it has to be noted

that the banking operations does not transfer physical currencies instead it transfer the

information about the value for currency. The commercial world, especially in most

advanced societies today, money is rather carried in information storage medium such

as cheques, credit cards and electronic means that in its pure cash form. According to

Christopher et al (2006), Electronic banking has become an important channel to sell

the products and services and is perceived to be necessity in order to stay profitable in

successful. The perception is the formed as a result of interpreting the experience.

There is a growing interest in understanding the users’ experience (Hiltunen et al.,

2002 .); as it is observed as a larger concept than user satisfaction. From this

perspective, assessing the user experience is essential for many technology products

and services (Wilson & Sasse, 2004) Customers have started perceiving the services

of bank through Internet as a prime attractive feature than any other prime product

features of the bank.

Due to e-banking being at its infancy in the Ghanaian banking industry the challenge

remains on establishing it as an accepted practice for consumers in the banking

industry.

1.3 Research Objectives

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The general objective of this study is to determine the adoption of e-banking facilities

amongst customers in Eco bank Ghana

The specific objectives to be achieved are:

1-To establish the level of awareness among customers.

2-To identifies major factors that can improve the level of the usage Electronic

banking among customers.

3-To identify the benefit of Electronic banking to customers.

1.4 Research Questions

The following are the research questions to be addressed by this study.

1-What is the level of awareness among customers?

2-which factors can improve the adoption of electronic banking?

3- what are the benefits of Electronic banking to customers?

1.5 Significance of the Study

Finding of this study will be of immense relevance to practitioners as it gives them a

direction as to what should be done in the area of e-banking and customer adoption

rate and also contribute knowledge to academic and also serve as a foundation for

further studies into the subject matter.

1.6 Scopes and Limitation of Study

This research would focus on assessing of adoption of electronic banking by

customers in Eco bank Ghana and how they perceive it and which reason can affect

the use . Our study would be conducted at only three selectected eco bank branches in

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Accra; Eco bank head office Accra, Tesano and Kotobabi branches were selected

because they are situated at vantage points and serve a relatively greater number of

the banks customers.

Due mainly to time and resource constraints, this study is limited to only one bank

and one city. Within the scope of study, getting the most appropriate people to

interview sometimes proved difficult. However, the researchers ensured that the

respondents gave relevant information concerning this study.

1.7 Organization of the work

This thesis is organized into five chapters. The Introduction, which is Chapter one,

consist the background of the study, statement of the problem, the main and specific

objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study and how the

study is organized. Chapter two discusses literature related to the study while research

methodology is discussed in chapter three. The fourth chapter presents the data and

analysis based on the objectives and research questions. Chapter five presents the

summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations.

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CHAPTER 2:Literature review

This chapter presents a comprehensive review of previous studies conducted on e-

business. Several important areas that will give clear meaning to this study will be

presented in this chapter

2.1 Basics of Electronic Banking

Electronic banking is a high-order construct, which consists of several distribution

channels. It should be noted that electronic banking is a bigger platform than just

banking via the Internet. However, the most general type of electronic banking in our

times is banking via the Internet, in other words Electronic banking. The term

electronic banking can be described in many ways. In a very simple form, it can mean

the provision of information or services by a bank to its customers, via a computer,

television, telephone, or mobile phone (Daniel, 1999). Burr (1996), for example,

describes it as an electronic connection between bank and customer in order to

prepare, manage and control financial transactions. Electronic banking allows

consumers to access their bank and accounts to undertake banking transactions. At an

advanced level Electronic banking is called transactional online banking, because it

involves the provision of facilities such as accessing accounts, transfer of funds, and

buying financial products or services online (Sathye, 1999). The terms Electronic

banking and online banking are often used in the literature to refer the same things.

Nowadays the Internet is the main channel for electronic banking.

Furthermore, electronic banking is said to have three different means of delivery:

telephone, PC, and the Internet. Daniel (1999), for example, introduces four different

channels for electronic banking: PC banking, Internet banking, managed network, and

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TV-based banking. It is important to remember that Electronic Banking is different

from PC Home Banking. The obvious difference is that Electronic Banking is

browser based, whereas PC Home Banking requires customers to install a software

package assigned by the bank on their PC. Moreover, PC Home Banking allows

customers to do their banking services only on PCs that have been installed the

assigned software package, such as include Intuit, Inc.'s Quicken and Microsoft

Corp.'s Money.

Karjaluoto et al. (2002a) suggests that the main electronic delivery channel in

banking is the Internet, accessed via personal computer. Telephone banking, TV-

based banking, and managed network do not play such a big role in banking today.

However, in the future the delivery platform is expected to shift from wired Internet

connections to wireless mobile technologies. Thus, as Wah (1999) points out,

electronic banking does not necessarily have to be on a computer screen. It can, for

example, be on the tiny screen of a mobile phone or any other wireless device. With

these wireless applications, customers can, for example, consult their bank account

balances and transaction histories, view pie charts of their holdings in a portfolio,

initiate payments or orders to buy and sell securities, and also send e-mail to their

banks.

Electronic banking is the newest delivery channel in many developed countries and

there is a wide agreement that the new channel will have a significant impact on the

bank market (Daniel, 1999; Jayawardhena and Foley, 2000). According to Nehmzow

(1997) Internet banking offers the traditional players in the financial services sector

the opportunity to add a low cost distribution channel to their numerous different

services. He continues that Internet banking also creates a threat to traditional banks’

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market share, because it neutralizes so many of their competitive advantages in

having a traditional branch bank network.

There has also been some discussion about the disappearance of traditional banks.

The future of Internet banking looks very promising. As Internet banking becomes

more popular, it will be interesting to see what happens to traditional banks with

branches. Wah (1999), for example, argues that traditional banks will not disappear in

the future. Instead, the new technology will put them on a new level in banking

services. She concludes that even traditional banks will benefit from this new

technology, and the will be able to care for their customers in a more efficient, more

productive and even more fun way. She also argues that Internet banking is playful

for customers. However, there is relatively little evidence about the playfulness of

Internet banking.

2.2 Conception of Electronic Banking

Electronic banking means that banking services such as services introduction, loan

application, account balance inquiry, fund transfer and so forth are provided by a bank

through the Internet. Electronic banking has evolved into a “one step service and

information unit” that promises great benefits to both banks and consumers.

According to Michael Karlin, the President and Chief Operation Officer of the world's

first virtual bank, Security First Network Bank, the idea of Electronic Banking is as

follows:

•You do not have to purchase any software, store any data on your computer, back up

any information, since all transactions occur on the bank server over the infrastructure

of the Internet.

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•You will be able to conduct your banking services anywhere you like but you need to

have a computer and a modem, no matter where you are (e.g. at home, at office, or in

a place outside the country).

°You can use the banking services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a

year. You no longer have to reconcile a bank statement or manually track your ATM

and paper checks.

2.3 Electronic banking in Ghana

According to the Bank of Ghana’s updated list of banks (2011), there are 28

recognized and fully operational banks in Ghana. There are rural banks in Ghana,

which serve people in the hinterlands and are different from the traditional banks in

terms of its capitalization threshold and nature of operations. These rural banks are

126 in total and they have their own central bank being the ARB Apex Bank, which is

also supervised by the Bank of Ghana. However, as at the time of this research, 21 out

of the 28 banks were offering Electronic-banking services. Electronic banking

services provided currently in Ghana include electronic bill presentment and payment,

funds transfer between a customer's own checking and savings accounts, or to another

customer's account, loan applications and transactions, such as repayments of

enrollments, bank statements, real time online balances and domestic wire transfer.

According to the Bank of Ghana E-zwich Report (2008), Electronic banking in

Ghana is facilitated by an automated clearinghouse system, which was created during

the introduction of the Ghana Interbank Payment Systems' E-zwich card introduction.

The Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlements System (GHIPSS) is a company

supervised by the Bank of Ghana, which deals with solely the development of

electronic banking through products such as E-zwich. E-zwich is the brand name for

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the common platform, which connects payment systems of all licensed banks and

non-bank financial institutions e.g. savings and loans companies, credit unions,

money transfer institutions, and rural banks in Ghana. What is significant though,

about the common platform is that it provides an opportunity for financial institutions

to expand without opening “brick and mortar” branches but to accept the point of sale

(POS) equipment needed for the E-zwich access communication. This created an

added advantage which spiraled Electronic banking in Ghana across different banks at

a faster rate as telephone and Electronic banking services are available but their usage

is limited (Bank of Ghana Annual Report, 2006).

For Electronic banking to succeed in Ghana, then, there is the need for effective

internal marketing to bank employees because if they are well informed and adapt to

the use of Electronic banking, it can have a significant influence on service quality to

customers. The impact of internal marketing on the perception of service quality has

been proven by Opoku et al (2009) in a research they conducted. The research was

based on a survey of 32 top managers, 100 employees and 200 external customers of a

major bank in Ghana to assess the impact of internal marketing on the perception of

service quality. The results suggest that internal marketing can have an influence on

service quality especially in relation to Internet banking.

2.4 The level of awareness and acceptance among customers

Following the boom of new technologies such as the internet and mobile phones in

practice, Electronic banking has also been the focus of numerous academic papers

Adoption, perception and usage of Electronic banking by consumers is one of the

topics heavily examined in e-banking literature. Centeno (2004) argues that speed, the

convenience of remote access, 7/24 availability and price incentives are the main

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motivation factors for the consumers to use internet banking. Durkin, et. al. (2008)

notes that the simplicity of the products offered via internet banking facilitates the

adoption of internet banking by consumers. Calisir and Gumussoy (2008) compare the

consumer perception of Electronic banking and other banking channels and report that

Electronic banking, ATM and phone banking substitute each other. Maenpaa et.al.

(2008) examine the consumer perceptions of Electronic banking in Finland and their

findings indicate that familiarity has a moderating role in the perception. Guerrero, et.

al. (2007) examine the usage of Electronic banking by Europeans and their results

indicate that ownership of diverse financial products and services, attitude towards

finances and trust in the internet as a banking channel influence clients‟ usage of

Electronic banking. Confirming other papers, Sohail and Shanmugham (2003)

document accessibility of Internet, awareness of Electronic banking and resistance to

change are found to be influencing Malaysians use of Electronic banking. Another

factor that promotes clients usage of Electronic banking is seller support (Nilsson,

2007).

2.5 Factors that can both affect and improve the level of adoption

According to Windrum and Berranger (2002 ) it is hypothesized that many of the

factors affecting the successful adoption of new technologies such as Electronic

banking are generic in nature and that the successful adoption of internet technologies

in part depends on how these are used in conjunction with the other technologies and

management practices that form a technology cluster . However, one of the most

critical barriers can be ascribed to the very limited information and communication

infrastructure available in most countries in Africa (Ben Akoh 2001). Reasons vary

widely among sectors and countries and are most commonly related to lack of

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applicability to the business, preferences for established business models, (OECD,

2004).

Perceived risk was one of the major factors affecting consumer adoption, as well as

customer satisfaction of online banking services (Polatoglu and Ekin, 2001).

Perceived risk usually arises from uncertainty. To Howcroft, et. al., (2002) the

principal characteristics that inhibit online banking adoption are security and privacy.

In electronic banking services. Malaysia was found that security was main barrier to

e-commerce expansion. Security is perhaps the most feared problem on the Internet.

Banks and customers take a very high risk by dealing electronically (Mukti, 2000;

Chung and Paynter, 2002). It is noted that although consumer‟s confidence in their

bank was strong, yet their confidence in the technology was weak (Roboff and

Charles, 1998). Today‟s consumers are increasingly more concerned about security

and privacy issues (Howcroft et al., 2002).

Potential customers mentioned Internet security, online banking regulations,

consumer privacy, and banks reputation as the most important future challenges of

online banking adoption. (Aladwani, 2001). Indeed, in Aladwani‟s (2001) study of

online banking, potential customers ranked internet security and customers‟ privacy

as the most important future challenges that banks are facing. Perceived usefulness,

perceived Web security has a strong and direct effect on acceptance of Internet

banking, too. A high level of perceived risk is considered to be a barrier to

propagation of new innovations (Ostlund, 1974). Influenced by the imagination-

capturing stories of hackers, customers may fear that an unauthorized party will gain

access to their online account and serious financial implications will follow. The

survey by White and Nteli (2004) found that UK consumers ranked the security of

bank‟s website as the most important attribute of Internet banking service quality.

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This widespread anxiety is vividly illustrated by the results of Sathye (1999), who

reported that three-quarters of Australian respondents expressed security concerns

with regard to electronic banking.

These different theories contribute an understanding of the factors influencing

consumer adoption of electronic banking. The factors, which are hypothesized to

influence the individual’s decision to adopt electronic banking into six main

categories: convenience, security perception, prior internet knowledge, perceived risk,

information on online banking and demographics characteristics. The literature

review, which follows, argues that many of these factors can be a priori regarded as

pertinent to the process of online banking adoption. The model we developed

proposed that online banking adoption can be modeled with the variables derived

from literature and five variables referring to prior internet knowledge, convenience,

security perception, perceived risk, information on online banking, and demographic

characteristics.

Demographic factors have been found to be associated with adoption of different

banking channels, especially internet banking (Al-Ashban and Burney, 2001;

Karjaluoto et al, 2002; Sathye, 1999). For instance, people with high educational

attainment may have an aptitude for computers and possess good information

processing skills. These qualities are crucial in the context of internet banking and

therefore a relationship between formal education and adoption is propounded. The

results reported in Flavia n et al. (2006) indicated that women were also less likely to

conduct their banking activities online. Akinci et al.'s (2004) findings in Turkey show

that mid-aged consumers are more likely than younger or older consumers to use

internet banking. Other studies (Karjaluoto et al., 2002; Mattila et al., 2003; Sathye,

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1999) shows that those who belong to upper middle class and have high-level

occupations are more likely to use Internet banking.

Convenience has been identified by several studies as an important adoption factor of

innovation technologies (ACNielsen, 2005, Pew, 2003 and Ramsay and Smith, 1999).

Copeland (1923) defined convenience goods as a class of consumer products that

were intensively distributed and required minimal time and physical and mental effort

to purchase.

Some later definitions of convenience also focused on resources such as time and

effort required of the consumer in shopping for a product (Brown, 1990). Other

researchers, however, expanded the concept of convenience to incorporate non-

shopping activities. It is related to the visual view of the Internet compared to

telephone banking (Black et al., 2002).

Furthermore, the 24-hour service availability (Gerrard and Cunningham, 2003; Liao

and Cheung, 2002), home access (Gerrard and Cunningham, 2003), world wide

access (Liao and Cheung, 2002), time savings (Gerrard and Cunningham, 2003), and

wide variety of services accessible (Liao and Cheung, 2002) are seen as drivers of

convenience in Internet banking.

Previous authors considered Internet banking as competitive advantage of adopting of

a new retailing channel in services capes (Polatoglu and Ekin, 2001; Gerrard and

Cunningham, 2003). It is one of the dominating factors in transaction channel

preferences (Ramsay and Smith, 1999) and a key determinant of consumer

satisfaction (Yang et al., 2003). In his study Eastin (2002) found that perceived

convenience was the strongest predictor of online banking usage. Finally, the same

study also indicated that the perceived convenience was the most influential variable

of overall adoption of all four e-commerce activities investigated.

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Another factor that influences the consumer adoption of internet banking is the prior

experience of technologies, especially prior experience of computers. Thus,

consumer's familiarity with technologies in general facilitates her appreciation of the

potential added value, which is inherent in a technology. The prior computer

experience is associated with use of use of PC, the Internet and e-mail. Karjaluoto et

al. (2002) showed that prior experience with computers and technologies and attitudes

towards computers influence both attitudes towards online banking and actual

behaviours.

Security is one of the very important factors in determining the decision of consumers

to use Internet banking. The Walls report (1997) also reported that unless security is

improved, more households would be willing to conduct their transactions over the

Internet.

According to Polatoglu and Ekin, (2001), security comprises of three dimensions:

reliability, safety, and privacy. Consumers’ concerns about security, which arise from

the use of an open public network, have been emphasised as being the most important

factor inhibiting the adoption and use of internet banking (Sathye, 1999; Daniel, 1999;

Hamlet and Strube, 2000; Tan and Teo, 2000; Cox and Dale, 2001, Polatoglu and

Ekin, 2001, Black et al., 2002, Giglio, 2002; Howcroft et al., 2002 Howcroft et al.,

2002).

In USA, Thorton Consulting (1996) which conducted a survey focusing on banks

concluded that 67 percent of US banks feel that “security concerns” is the major

barriers for Internet banking. The same results obtained from the study of Booz et al.

(1997), reveals that security concern among customers was the top-ranking obstacle

for non-adoption of Internet banking in Latin America.

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The important factor that consumers consider before adopting is the amount of

information they have about internet banking. In this context, Sathye (1999) has

identified it as a major factor impacting the adoption. According to Sathye (1999),

while the use of internet banking services is fairly new experience to many people,

low awareness of internet banking is a major factor in causing people not to adopt

internet banking.

In an empirical study of Australian consumers Sathye (1999), found that consumers

were unaware about the possibilities, advantages/disadvantages involved with internet

banking. Guiltinanand Donnelly (1983) identify "information about the benefits of

using a product/service" as an essential service/product promotion strategy. Hence,

for adoption of internet banking, it is necessary that the banks offering this service

make the consumers aware about the availability of such a product and explain how it

adds value relative to other products of its own or that of the competitors. For

example, marketing effort, Radio and TV advertisements, Web site, branches and

other promotional tools suggesting that marketing communications will have a

positive effect on consumer adoption of online banking.

2.6 Benefits of Electronic banking both for banks and customers

The growing use of the Internet for banking services provides obvious advantages, not

only for the banks’ customers but also for the banks themselves. According to Furst et

al (2000), both banks and their customers stand to benefit substantially using the

Internet to collect information. Customers can benefit from allowing banks to collect

and integrate large amounts of personal information that help banks to tailor a wide

range of products to individual demands. Electronic banking gives the customers a

better overview of their banking business and enables them to handle their everyday

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financial transactions without having to visit their local branch. Customers who starts

to bank online are also proving to be more active as they engage in more banking

transactions. As for the banks, the Internet enables them to make the distribution and

production of their banking services more efficient. Eventually, the growing use of

online banking will allow banks to replace their conventional branch offices with ones

concentrating on advisory services and sales.

Electronic banking helps in expediting banking transactions, reducing the cost and

ensuring that you can utilize various banking services in your living room or even

while travelling thousands of miles away from your home (Peterson, 2006).

Jayawardhena and Foley (1998) aver that Electronic banking most importantly allows

banks to delegate task to customers, save the bank’s time and all the expenses that

would have been incurred as payments to staff employed to carry out the functions,

while at the same time minimizing the errors that would have been faults of the bank.

When compared to other payment channels, electronic payment products offer many

advantages both for banks and for customers. It is low-priced, not dependent on place

or opening hours of banks, and moreover, it puts the customer in control (Karjaluoto,

2002). Consequently, banks have increased investments in Electronic services and

reduced the number of branch offices and payment automated teller machines

(ATMs).

For the banks, Electronic banking, besides providing value added for their customers

is a means to cut costs and increase efficiency. Branch office service for such a

routine action, as bill payment is expensive and, compared to Electronic banking,

maintaining bill payment ATMs is also inefficient for the banks (Laukkanen et al.,

2008).

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Bradley and Stewart (2002) state that achieving competitive advantage, reducing

costs, and protecting an organizations strategic position as factors that encourage the

diffusion of an innovation. Also, Lee et al (2005), asserts that innovative technologies

save costs, improve customer experiences at service encounters and enable effective

customer relationship management for service providers.

Electronic banking offers convenience to the customer. One does not have to go to the

bank's branch to request a financial statement. You can download it from your online

bank account, which shows you up-to-the-minute updated figures. As far as customers

are concerned, their account information is available round the clock, regardless of

their location. They can reschedule their future payments from their bank account

while sitting thousands of miles away. They can electronically transfer money from

their bank accounts or receive money in their bank accounts within seconds. You can

apply for a loan without visiting the local bank branch and get one easily. You can

buy or sell stocks and other securities by using your bank accounts. Even new

accounts can be opened; old accounts can be closed without doing tedious paperwork.

Especially with the increasing acceptability of digital signatures around the world,

Electronic banking has made life much easier and banking much faster and more

pleasant, for customers as well as bankers (Peterson, 2006). Also, Peterson (2006)

indicated that Electronic banking is cost effective to the bank. According to him,

thousands of customers can be dealt with at once. There is no need to have too many

clerks and cashiers. The administrative work gets reduced drastically with Internet

banking. Expenditures on paper slips; forms and even bank stationery have gone

down, which helps raise the profit margin of the bank by a surprisingly large number.

25

2.7 Theorical framework

The Technology Acceptance Model introduced by Davis (1985) is one of the most

cited theoretical frameworks to predict the acceptance and use of new information

technology within organizations. This model derives from the TRA. The Technology

Acceptance Model hypothesizes that system use is directly determined by behavioral

intention to use, which is in turn influenced by users’ attitudes toward using the

system and the perceived usefulness of the system. Attitudes and perceived usefulness

are also affected by perceived ease of use. Perceived usefulness was defined as the

degree to which individuals believe that using a particular system would enhance their

job performance (Davis, 1989), whereas perceived ease of use relates to the degree to

which individuals believe that using a particular system would require no effort

(Davis, 1989). These two factors have been empirically justified as important factors

determining the adoption and use of new information technology, including the

adoption of Internet banking (Vijayasarathy, 2004).

This theory was developed by Ajzen (1991) and it provides a framework to study

people’s attitude towards behavior patterns. Thus, the most important determinant of a

person's behavior is intention. The individual's intention to perform a behavior is a

combination of attitude to perform the behavior and subjective norm. This includes;

behavioral belief, attitude towards the behavior, subjective norm, normative beliefs,

control beliefs, perceived behavioral control and the motivation to comply.

The theory helps us to formulate an understanding of the influences on people’s

behavior, which is not under their direct control, identify how and where to target

strategies for a changing behavior and explain in particular context to this work. The

limitations of this theory are that it does not take into consideration demographical

factors, personality issues, tenets of measurement among others. Nonetheless, it is a

26

very important study in social psychology, which serves as a basis to determining

rational behavior and permeates other areas of study.

This theory was developed by Davis et al (1989) to give an understanding on how

information system innovations are accepted or adopted by studying people’s

adoption behaviors. This theory was specifically tailored to the adoption of

information systems, such that factors like perceived usefulness which is based on a

person’s “subjective probability that using a specific application system will increase

his or her job performance within an organizational context” (Davis et al,) and

perceived ease of use which is “the degree to which the user expects the target system

to be free of effort". These two variables predict attitude towards use and serve as the

basis for Behavioral Intention, which leads to actual use.

This is an extension of the Technology Acceptance Model to include social

psychological influences on people’s attitude to adopt based on Kelman (1958)

research that changes in attitudes or behaviors as a result of social influences may be

different though the resulting overt behavior may seem to be the same. Thus in

adopting certain behavior, some psychological attachment specific to the individual

may have an influence in predicting an individual’s behavioral intention which leads

to actual use. The Extended Technology Acceptance Model is presented below

together with its hypothesized relationships, which explain how the diagram connects

and the form the basis for our understanding on how to apply the model:

In choosing a model for this research, the Extended Technology Acceptance Model

will be considered because the Technology Acceptance Model does not include the

social influence in the adoption of Electronic banking.

There are many theories used in IS research (Wade 2009). We are interested only in

theories about technology adoption. The most used theories are the technology

27

acceptance model (TAM) (Davis 1986; Davis 1989; Davis et al. 1989), theory of

planned behavior (TPB) (Ajzen 1985, Ajzen 1991), unified theory of acceptance and

use of technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al. 2003), DOI (Rogers 1995), and the

TOE framework (Tornatzky and Fleischer 1990).

DOI is a theory of how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread

through cultures, operating at the individual and firm level. DOI theory sees

innovations as being communicated through certain channels over time and within a

particular social system (Rogers 1995). Individuals are seen as possessing different

degrees of willingness to adopt innovations, and thus it is generally observed that the

portion of the population adopting an innovation is approximately normally

distributed over time (Rogers 1995). Breaking this normal distribution into segments

leads to the segregation of individuals into the following five categories of individual

innovativeness (from earliest to latest adopters): innovators, early adopters, early

majority, late majority, laggards (Rogers 1995).

The innovation process in organizations is much more complex. It generally involves

a number of individuals, perhaps including both supporters and opponents of the new

idea, each of whom plays a role in the innovation-decision.

Based on DOI theory at firm level (Rogers 1995), innovativeness is related to such

independent variables as individual leader characteristics, internal organizational

structural characteristics, and external characteristics of the organization.

(a) Individual characteristics describe the leader attitude toward change.

(b) Internal characteristics of organizational structure includes observations according

to Rogers (1995) whereby: “centralization is the degree to which power and control in

a system are concentrated in the hands of a relatively few individuals”; “complexity is

the degree to which an organization’s members possess a relatively high level of

28

knowledge and expertise”; “formalization is the degree to which an organization

emphasizes its members’ following rules and procedures”; “interconnectedness is the

degree to which the units in a social system are linked by interpersonal networks”;

“organizational slack is the degree to which uncommitted resources are available to an

organization”; “size is the number of employees of the organization”.

(c) External characteristics of organizational refer to system openness. Individual

(leader) characteristics Attitude toward change Internal characteristics of

organizational structure, Centralization, Complexity, Formalization,

Interconnectedness, Organizational, slack size, Organizational, innovativeness

External characteristics of the organization System openness Since the early

applications of DOI to IS research, the theory has been applied and adapted in various

ways.

The TOE framework was developed in 1990 (Tornatzky and Fleischer 1990). It

identifies three aspects of an enterprise's context that influence the process by which it

adopts and implements a technological innovation: technological context,

organizational context, and environmental context.

(a) Technological context describes both the internal and external technologies

relevant to the firm. This includes current practices and equipment internal to the firm

(Starbuck 1976), as well as the set of available technologies external to the firm

(Thompson 1967, Khandwalla 1970, Hage 1980).

(b) Organizational context refers to descriptive measures about the organization such

as scope, size, and managerial structure.

(c) Environmental context is the arena in which a firm conducts its business its

industry, competitors, and dealings with the government (Tornatzky and Fleischer

1990).

29

External task environment Industry characteristics and market structure Technology

support infrastructure Government regulation Organization Formal and informal

linking Structures Communication processes Size Slack Technological innovation

decision-making Technology Availability Characteristics.

The TOE framework as originally presented, and later adapted in IT adoption studies,

provides a useful analytical framework that can be used for studying the adoption and

assimilation of different types of IT innovation. The TOE framework has a solid

theoretical basis, consistent empirical support.

This framework is consistent with the DOI theory, in which Rogers (1995)

emphasized individual characteristics, and both the internal and external

characteristics of the organization, as drivers for organizational innovativeness. These

are identical to the technology and organization context of the TOE framework, but

the TOE framework also includes a new and important component, environment

context. The environment context presents both constraints and opportunities for

technological innovation. The TOE framework makes Rogers’ innovation diffusion

theory better able to explain intra- firm innovation diffusion (Hsu et al. 2006). Thus,

the next Section analyses the studies that adopted TOE framework.

2.8 Empirical literature of the toe framework

We thoroughly analyze the TOE framework and present an exhaustive description of

studies that draw on this theory. The research discusses the relevant papers that used

only the TOE framework as a theoretical model.

Several authors used only the TOE framework to understand different IT adoptions,

such as: electronic data interchange (EDI) (Kuan and Chau 2001); open systems

(Chau and Tam 1997); web site (Oliveira and Martins 2008); e-commerce (Liu 2008,

30

Martins and Oliveira 2009, Oliveira and Martins 2009); enterprise resource planning

(ERP) (Pan and Jang 2008); business to business (B2B) e-commerce (Teo et al.

2006); e-business (Zhu et al. 2003, Zhu and Kraemer 2005, Zhu et al. 2006b, Lin and

Lin 2008, Oliveira and Martins 2010a); knowledge management systems (KMS) (Lee

et al. 2009).

31

CHAPTER 3:Methodology

This chapter discusses the research methodology of the dissertation. It starts with

research purpose and research approach. It also outlines research strategy and

sampling methods. Finally it presents validity and reliability of measurements, used in

this research.

3.1 Study setting

The questionnaire will be administered by meeting the respondents on a one-to-one.

The respondents engaged in this study will have at least one current bank account at

the time of the study.

The Research lends to become subjectively immersed in the subject matter We are

using the quantitative approach for our study because we want to have a deeper

understanding of e-Business adoption and its ability to offer certain opportunities to

consumers and banks. Quantitative data will able us to obtain an in depth analysis of

the subject.

3.2 Research design

It is the blueprint for conducting the study that maximizes control over factors that

could interfere with the validity of the findings. Designing a study helps the

researcher to plan and implement the study in a way that will help the researcher to

obtain intended results, thus increasing the chances of obtaining information that

could be associated with the real situation (Burns & Grove 2001:223).

A quantitative approach was used in this study, by questionnaires use structured

question here the respondents have to chose an answer for the list and then chose on a

scale from strongly disagree and strongly agree This approach was adopted because it

32

can give us a better understanding about our study (assessment the adoption of

Electronic banking by customers of Eco bank Ghana).

3.3 Population and sample size

In this study the population 120 people for all races, sex, age groups, educational

status, socio-economic status and residential area, who get at least an account in

Ecobank Ghana during April-May 2014.

A convenience sample comprising 120 customers of eco bank Ghana and who has an

account during April and May 2014 was selected. De Vos (1998:199), as well as

LoBiondo-Wood and Haber (1998:253) describe a convenience sample as the use of

readily accessible persons in a study. Any case, which happens to cross the

researcher’s path, and meets the inclusive criteria set for the study, gets included in a

convenience sample. The researcher finds it easy to obtain participants, but the risk of

bias is greater than in a random sample, because each member of the population does

not have an equal chance of being included in the sample. Obtained results might not

be generalizable to the entire population.

3.4 Data collection

Polit and Hungler (1999:267) define data as information obtained in a course of a

study. In this study were used questionnaires to customers (20) and eco bank’s

workers (10) . The questionnaires were used in order to capture data relevant to the

study’s objectives and research questions.

The study was to determine the level of adoption of e-banking facilities amongst

customers in Eco bank Ghana.

33

Our study was conducted on two ecobank’s branches and the main office in Accra;

Lapaz branch, Kotobabi branch and the main office.

3.5 Data processing and analysis

The process of selecting a portion of the population to represent the entire population

is known as sampling (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber 1998:250; Polit & Hungler

1999:95). A number of customers who have an account with eco bank Ghana, who

were using e banking services were selected. Selecting a sample to be studied rather

than attempting to study the entire population of Eco bank customers saved time and

money. Obtaining data from the population of eco bank’s customers as well as

analyzing and interpreting vast amounts of data would have been impossible to

accomplish within the time constraints and with the limited financial resources which

were available for conducting this research.

Data analysis generally involves examining, transforming and modeling data with the

goal of highlighting useful information that addresses the initial proposition of a study

(Yin, 1994).Yin (1994) has previously given the ultimate goal of analyzing data as to

treat the evidence fairly, thereby producing compelling analytical conclusions and

ruling out alternative interpretations that would make the conclusions unreliable and

thus invalid.

Thus, with our study emanating from a very parsimonious model, multiple regressions

can correctly predict the outcome for the various constructs, since most of the

independent variables of the study are not categorical. In addition Pearson’s Chi-

square test statistic was used to test whether demographic factors have moderating

effects (significant association) on an individual’s intention to adopt Electronic

banking.

34

Finally, findings are presented in narrative descriptions using descriptive statistics and

where necessary tables and figures are also used to indicate the trends and patterns.

This also helped in facilitating discussions on findings.

3.6 ethical considerations

The ethical concept will not be against the banking law and the institution itself and

their customers .We have to ensure that participants have a complete understanding of

the purpose and methods to be used in the study.

3.7 validity and reliability

Reliability and Validity helps only establish the trustworthiness of any study but also

constitute the credibility of the research (Saunders et al., 2007). They are therefore

very important part of the measurement process of a research. Neumann (2006) has

argued that once a concept has been operationalized by proposing a way to measure

such concept, the measurement device should be both valid and reliable therefore our

study must consider the valid information and collect information that has relevant for

our study.

3.8 Limitation and delimitation

This study attempted to shed more light and deepen the understanding of the

assessment of the adoption of e banking by customers in the banking sector. That

notwithstanding, the reasons outlined below may have affected the findings of the

study.

For quantitative data collection to be more effective, it requires us to get more

respondents and go to more branches across the country. Due to limited time, the

35

researcher only went to three branches. This implies that the size of the respondents

were not more bigger. Some respondents did not complete the questionnaire. Also,

some respondents were given wrong information because they were still unsure of

their anonymity even though the researcher assured them of the confidentiality and

the purpose of the research.

Both the sampling technique and the data collection process employed in this study

are characterized by various shortcomings. Sample size and Convenience sampling

may have influenced the final result of our study . Hence, the selected sample cannot

represent 100% the views of the respective eco bank’s customers who are using e

banking services.

36

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS

In this chapter we will analyze the data collected based on basis of frame of

reference of this thesis. Partial least square method will be applied for analyzing the

collected data.

4.1 Ecobank limited

Ecobank Ghana Ltd (EBG), founded in 1989 is part of the leading independent

regional banking Group in West and Central Africa serving wholesale and retail

businesses. It has a network of banks covering 18 countries namely: Benin, Burkina

Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea

Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Chad and

Togo, with plans to establish presence in East and Southern Africa. The Group has a

network of over 320 branches and offices established in the last nineteen years.

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) the parent company of the Ecobank Group

plays a central role in the definition and implementation of common policies and

standards on the basis of a “one bank” concept across the group’s network. Ecobank

Ghana is supervised and regulated by the Banking Supervision Department of the

Bank of Ghana (BOG), which is the Central Bank of Ghana. EBG has over 25

branches and customer service points in Ghana. Return On Equity (ROE) has

consistently been over 40 percent in the last five years and Return On Assets (ROA)

in the range of 40%. Ecobank Ghana Limited, together with subsidiaries, provides

merchant banking, retail banking, and investment banking products and services to

wholesale and retail customers in Ghana. Its deposit products include current, savings,

and deposit accounts. The company’s loan portfolio comprises personal loans, car and

motor loans, home mortgage loans, and business loans. Ecobank Ghana also offers

cards; letters of credits and bills for collections; transfer and payments; foreign

37

exchange; and western union services. In addition, the company offers finance

leasing, automated teller machine, Internet banking, telephone banking, and Ecobank

regional cards services. It serves individuals, small and medium enterprises. Major

competitors include Barclays Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Stanbic Bank.

Ecobank Ghana adopted e-business as a response to new market trends and as a

competitive strategy. Some of their E-business products include Internet Banking,

SMS Banking, E-statements, E-Alerts and ATMS. Ecobank Ghana agrees that

turnover of the bank has increased since the adoption of e-business even though no

specific margin was given to this question because of company policy. Ecobank

Ghana agrees that adopting e-business as a strategy is one of the important steps the

bank has taken in its development due to the tremendous benefits e-business adoption

provides. According to them their perceived benefits include convenience to

customers, speed and quality of service, reduction of queues in banking halls and

reduction in the total overhead cost such as reduction in employee recruitment and

reduction in space for clients and customers. These are factors that pushed their drive

to adopt e-business. To stay competitive and to respond to the new market trends,

Ecobank Ghana adopted e- business as one of its strategies. The bank acknowledges

that there were indeed certain barriers that they needed to overcome. These barriers

they perceived include ICT competencies within the firm and enabling factors such as

availability of ICT skills, qualified personnel and network infrastructure. Despite the

benefits, Ecobank Ghana agreed there were challenges as they adopted e- business.

According to them, the greatest challenge they perceived is cost of bandwidth, which

is a great deterrent to their quest to adopt e-business.

38

4.2Demographic Profile of Respondents (customers)

The respondents for this study were made up of about 59% males and 41% females.

However, the statistics from our study compared to these earlier studies (Crabbe et al,

2009; Ntsiful et al., 2010) seem to suggest that the male dominance of Electronic

users in Ghana seems to be declining over time. Crabbe et al. (2009) reported 73%

males’ whiles Ntsiful et al. (2010) suggest 71% male Internet users in Ghana.

Majority of the respondents 62% are between 18 and 2! years. About 94% of all

respondents are below the ages of 40 with about 1% of respondents were more than

51 years.(Table 1)

Table 1

Age Group Female Female (%) Male Male (%) Total

18- 28 24 24% 38 38% 62%

29 - 39 13 13% 19 19% 32%

40 - 50 3 3% 2 2% 5%

<51 1 1% 0 0% 1%

Total 41 41% 59 59% 100%

2014 Survey

4.3 Occupation of respondents

In terms of occupations, students were the largest group with 57% with 29 males and

28 female, 23 of professional, 14 respondents were trapersone, 5 respondents were

homemakers and 1 was unemployed. (Table2)

39

Table 2

Occupation Femal

e

Female (%) Male Male (%) Total

Student 28 28% 29 29% 57%

Professional 4 4% 19 19% 23%

Tradesperson 4 4% 10 10% 14%

Unemployed 0 0% 1 1% 1%

Retired 0 0% 0 0% 0%

Homemaker 5 5% 0 0% 5%

Total 41 41% 59 59% 100%

2014 Survey

4.4 The level of awareness among customers

The study sought to find out how respondents, perceived E-banking. The results

presented in figure 1 revealed that out of the 100 respondents, 93 of the respondents

were aware of the fact that Ecobank was providing e – banking services with the

remaining 7 not being aware of such service being provided by the bank. Fig 1 shows

a graphical representation of this study.

40

Figure1: Customers level of awareness

93%

7%

Aware No aware

2014 Survey

For those who have heard about the e banking services 39.7% were using 4 e banking

facilities 14.1% were using more than four (4) facilities such as ATM, email banking,

mobile banking, e payment, telephone banking or internet banking were the most used

by the respondents only 7% were using one facility like ATM, and 22.5% of the

respondent were using 2 facilities ATM and Mobile banking. The Table 3 below

shows respondents in term of number of facilities that they are using.

Table 3

Frequency Pourcentage

Total

1234<4

721153713

7.5%22.5%16.2%39.7%14.1%

Total 93 100% 100%2014 Survey

41

The responses indicated that, respondents before the introduction of e banking visited

their banks for various transactions in a month. Out of a 93, 29.2% of the respondents

usually visit their banks more frequently in a month for various transactions. 60.2%

visited the banking hall very frequently, 10.6% rarely visit the bank while 4% of the

respondents did not respond to this question. The responses also indicated that,

respondents after the introduction of electronic banking rarely visited the banking

hall. The statistics show that out of 93, 59.3% visited the banking hall, while 35.4%

visited frequently, 3.3% visited very frequently and 2% did not respond to the

question at all. Fig.2

Figure 2

1-3 times 4-8 times <9 times N/A

10.60%

56.20%

29.20%

4.00%

59.30%

35.40%

3.30% 2.00%

BeforeAfter

2014 Survey

4.5 factors that can both affect customers to adopt e banking

E-banking product, it carries risks and challenges which are recognized and need to be

managed by the banking institutions in a very prudent manner. In this study, 40.1% of

the respondents affirmed that the main challenge facing E-banking system in Ecobank

is unreliable network system most of the time they were facing this problem most of

the times the ones who were using ATM and mobile banking. This is because Internet

42

connections which link the system together could easily fail which will result in

network failure. The bank relies on Internet service providers so any hindrance in

their system affect the network of the bank. In addition, charges for using e- banking

products were very high according to 18.3% of the respondents. The limit of money

that could be withdrawn was also seen as a challenge about 24% of the respondents

were worry about that Some respondents also made mention of unreliable power

source when the lights are out. Detail information is shown in table 4.

Table 4: factors that can affect e banking adoptionFrequency Percentage

Unreliable network 38 40.1%

Fees E-banking products 17 18.3%

Unreliable source of Power 11 11.1%

Cash withdrawn limited 21 24.1%Wrong debits 6 6.4%

Total 93 100%

2014 Survey

4.7 Improve the level of adoption of e banking

The security of E-banking is very vital to the service providers. The level of security

participants felt with regards to using e-banking facility is shown in figure 3. The

results indicate that 60.4% of the respondents felt that security features of electronic

banking are good which makes it difficult to be abused by fraudsters and hence

making it safe to use. In addition, 29.2% of the respondents affirmed that there is

privacy in using E-banking, whilst 10.4% of the respondents believe that frauds are

not easily detected in using E-banking facilities.

43

Figure 3

60.40%

29.20%

10.40%

the transactions are securedFraud not easily de-tectedprivacy about my personal informa-tions

2014 Survey

4.8 Benefit of e banking to customers

Figure 4 illustrates the benefits of electronic banking to respondents. According to the

most of the respondents, 279 choices were given out which 30.5% respondents for

timesaving, 32.6% respondents for 7/24 availability, 30.8% respondents for

convenience, while 6.1% respondents for payment bills, innovation, document

accessibility. Therefore the majors benefits for customers who are using e banking

are the 7/24 availability because they do not need to go to banking hall most of the

time, timesaving with online banking, you can keep track of your money much easier

because your account information is available anytime online. To get your balance,

simply login to your account. Avoid getting stuck waiting for the bank to open again,

having to visit an ATM, or calling a time consuming customer service number to get

the same information.

44

Figure 4

Times

avin

g

Docum

ent a

cceb

ility

7/24 av

ailab

ility

Convenien

ce

Payem

ent o

f bill

s

Innovation

30.70%

3.30%

32.60%30.40%

1.80% 1.20%

2014 Survey

In conclusion, most of the customers of the bank were aware of the E-banking

products the bank offered and out of the numerous products the bank offered, the

customers preferred to use the ATM E-statement.. In spite of the benefits enjoyed by

customers, there were challenges confronted by them. Paramount among them was

unreliable network. Others include limits to cash withdrawn, unreliable power source

when the lights are out, high bank charges associated with the use of electronic

banking products and wrong debits.

.

45

CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY,CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Based on the result obtained in the study, a discussion of theoretical and practical

implication will be presented on this chapter. Furthermore, we will also have some

recommendations for banks. Contribution of this study, its limitations and future

research also will be presented in this chapter.

5.1 Summary of finding

The study adopted a case study approach and an exploratory analysis on the

assessment of adoption of E-banking by customers in Ghana with specific emphasis

on Eco bank Eco bank was chosen for the study because of its yearly success in the

banking industry.

The study emphasized on three main objectives: To investigate the level of

awareness and acceptance among customers. To investigate major factors that can

both affect and improve the level of adoption of Electronic banking among customers.

To investigate the benefit of Electronic banking to Eco bank and eco bank’s

customers.

Findings from the study indicated that Eco bank has adopted e banking over many

years as a business strategy in response to customer needs and the changing marketing

trends in the banking industry. Also the bank adopted e banking due to the

tremendous benefits e banking provides. Since Eco bank offers numerous e-banking

services to its customers, such as ATM, POS, Visa Cards, MasterCard, Internet

Banking, SMS Banking, Email Transaction Notification, Statement by email, Check

Writer and Mobile Money.

46

From the study the respondents subscribed at least one form of e-banking product.

This is so because Eco bank offers some of these products at no cost to customers,

like Internet Banking, Statement by E-mail Notification. Subscription to some of

these products (e.g. Statement by e-mail), are automatic as one opens an account with

the bank.

Findings from the study revealed that factors such as increases sales, Cost Saving,

Improvement in Productivity, Improvement in Speed and Efficiency in service

delivery, Revenue generation and Increase in Market share and Market access were

benefits Eco bank derived from its adoption of e-banking while customers mentioned

convenience, Time Saving, control over finances and cost effective way of conducting

banking transactions as benefits.

The Study also revealed major factors that can affect the level of adoption of e-

banking among customers as frustration about the using of e banking, mental effort,

hackers, transactions error, network problems. The lack of solid technological

infrastructure in the country has made Eco bank outsource some of its banking

processes to external service providers. They also believed some of the challenges

were avoidable and the bank can take proactive steps to avoid them.

It was also discovered from the study that the respondents believe that 24/7

Availability of services, Information Security and Efficient and Effective Customer

Support are critical success factors for electronic banking adoption.

5.2 Conclusion

Although Ghana is in its fundamental stages of technology advancement, Eco bank

has been successful with its adoption of e banking. The study revealed that Eco bank

made extensive focus on System availability, Information security, Efficient and

47

Effective Customer support and Customer education as key factors to the successful

operation of e banking in Ghana.

The benefits derived from e-banking using cannot be over emphasized. From the

study it is obvious that Eco bank derived tremendous benefits from e-banking such as

revenue generation, improvement in productivity and efficiency in service delivery,

increase in market share and market access and cost savings. E Banking with its

automation leads to reduction of manual processes and related operating costs while

service delivery becomes much quicker. E banking also offers convenience to

customers, having to access banking services anytime, anywhere with speedy

delivery. Some customers give credit to e banking for offering them absolute privacy,

not having to go through any individual to access account information. Tied to the

privacy advantage, customers also believe it offers great security that way. However

challenges such as solid infrastructure in the country and security issues have impeded

the smooth operation of e banking in the country. Customers experience system

failures that create unexpected inconveniences for them. This obviously is a result of

the weak technology infrastructure in the country. Regardless of the these challenges,

from the study it is obvious that customers are ready to embrace e-banking, provided

the benefits are well promoted to them and banks are able to resolve system failure

issues promptly. It can therefore be concluded from this study that there is high

acceptance of electronic banking among customers.

5.3 Recommendation

The suggestions for the findings from the study are as follows: Banks investment in

technology solutions should not be “half-hearted”. The banks have a duty to ensure

customer confidence in the electronic banking services they provide and assure them

of the security and privacy they need to patronize these services. For instance banks

48

issuing Magnetic Stripe Cards need to migrate to Chip technology in order to protect

themselves as well as their customers from fraudulent skimming and usage of their

cards.

Government support by way of legislations and infrastructure provision is essential

for creating the enabling environment for electronic banking to thrive in the country.

Banks’ staff and officials should be adequately trained in e-banking products and

services to be able to address customers’ needs and challenges.

Banks need to well package and market E-banking Products and services effectively

to customers to close the seemingly knowledge gap that exists among the populace

with regard to the benefits that can be derived from the services.

49

REFERENCES

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APPENDIX

Ghana Technology University College

QUESTIONAIRES

THE ASSESSMENT OF THE ADOPTION OF E-BANKING BY CUSTOMERS IN THE BANKING SECTOR.

A CASE STUDY OF ECOBANK GHANA

This questionnaire is designed to assist the researchers to collect data for research on the above topic. The researchers are final year students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Business studies (Banking and Finance Option). Please be assured that your responses are strictly meant for academic purposes and will be treated with maximum confidentiality. You are not required to provide your name.

N.B Please tick [✓] in the appropriate box provided to indicate your answers.

1. Gender: Male [ ] Female [ ]

2. Age: 18-28 [ ] 29-39 [ ] 40-50 [ ] 51+ [ ]

3. OccupationProfessional [ ] Tradesperson [ ] Student [ ] Unemployed [ ] Retired [ ] Homemaker [ ] Other [ ] 4. Are you aware of the e-banking services provided by Ecobank?Yes [ ] No [ ]

5. If yes to the above, which of these e-banking services are you using? ATM [ ] Credit card [ ] SMS alert [ ] Email alert [ ] Telephone banking [ ] Bill Payment [ ] Mobile banking [ ] Internet banking [ ] 6. Before the introduction of those services, how often do you visit the bank for transactions in a month? 1-3 times [ ] 4-8 times [ ] more than 8 times [ ]

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7. With the introduction of those services, how often do you visit the bank for transactions in a month? 1-3 times [ ] 4-8 times [ ] more than 8 times [ ] 8. Do you think you are safe or secure using E-banking services? Yes [ ] No [ ]

9.If yes how, ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………10. If no why,………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

11. What challenges do you face in using any of these e-banking services?1.ATMs ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………2. Mobile Banking ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3. Telephone Banking ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

12.What are the 3 majors benefits that you get since you are using e banking services?Timesaving [ ] Document accessibility [ ] 7/24 availability [ ] Convenience [ ] pay my bills [ ] Innovation [ ]

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