ABSTRACT
The study was to examine the
knowledge and utilization of e-banking facilities in Kaaseman Rural Bank
in Ghana. The study used a quantitative and descriptive design of which customers and management of
Kaaseman Rural Bank were targeted. Two hundred and eighty respondents were
chosen with the aid of simple random sampling technique for selecting the
customers while purposive sampling was used to select the managers of the four
branches of Kaaseman Rural Bank. Questionnaire was the main data collection
instruments. Furthermore, the data was analyzed and interpreted by using
percentages and frequencies and presented by using tables, and charts using
Excel 2013 version. However, the responses from the interviews were transcribed
verbatim and discussed thematically based on the objectives of the study. It
was found out that electronic cards such as ATM and e-switch, SMS Mobile
Banking, and Electronic transfer were the only e-banking services at Kaaseman
Rural Bank. Not that withstanding, these services were sometimes not available.
There was no internet banking services at Kaaseman Rural Bank. Also, the level
of awareness of e-banking services was low among the respondents. Respondents
understand its usage and heard about e-banking services through their family
and friends while few heard it from the workers of the Kaaseman Rural Bank.
Respondents knew much about SMS Mobile banking as compared to electronic cards
and electronic transfers. Therefore, it is recommended that Kaaseman Rural Bank
management should enroll sensitization and educative program about all the
e-banking services it offers to the customers for effective usage. Also,
Kaaseman Rural Bank should introduce Internet Banking to ease cost of
transportation among others and time wastage in queuing.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
Information and Communication Technologies have become an
essential part of our lives. In the past decade, the use of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) throughout society really took off with the
introduction of the Internet. The Internet started mainly as a network for
researchers that gave the opportunity to share information and ideas. An
important step in the commercialization of the Internet was the announcement of
the World Wide Web (www) in 1991 by Tim Berners-Lee of the European
Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) (Kalakota & Whinston, 1996). The
world has also become increasingly addicted to doing business in the
cyberspace, across the internet and World Wide Web. Internet commerce in its
own respect has expanded in various innovative forms of money, and based on
digital data issued by private market actors, has in one way or another
substituted for state-sanctioned bank notes and checking accounts as customary
means of payments (Cohen, 2001 as cited in Obenewa, 2011).
ICT is the umbrella term that encompasses a wide selection of
systems, devices and services used for data processing. In the widest sense,
‘E-business’ refers to the application of ICT technologies in business
processes. Businesses response to this technology has opened an opportunity for
many of them including the financial industry. Adoption of electronic banking
service delivery is fast gaining ground worldwide. Different e-Banking channels
such as electronic cards, internet banking and mobile banking
services have been introduced (Obenewa, 2011).
Businesses have employed e-business by the use of the
internet and other products as a principal means of doing business. The electronic
means of producing, distributing, marketing and sales of products and services
is known as E-Commerce; broadly defined, electronic commerce encompasses all
kinds of commercial transactions that are concluded over an electronic medium
or network, essentially the Internet. Mcandrews and Strahan (2002) defined
E-finance as the provision of financial services and markets using electronic
communication and computation and today banks are switching to the
multi-channel distribution of financial services in hybrid platforms where the
traditional services of banks are provided through both “bricks and mortar”
branches and Internet.
According to Frempong (2007), banks today are becoming
increasingly aware of both the threat and the opportunity that the Web
represents. ICT mediated services such as automated teller machines, electronic
fund transfer, electronic smart cards, cell phone banking among others are
transforming the traditional ways of banking and providing a competitive edge
for banks that provide those services. But, to be competitive in the Internet
economy, companies need to control the power of the Internet successfully;
hence it is important to understand the benefits, barriers and challenges
related to businesses’ adopting of E-Business.
E-Business has dramatically changed how companies’ business
process is implemented and has also enhanced industry structure and shifted the
balance of power between corporations and their suppliers and customers (Basu
& Muylle, 2007). The Internet is driving the economy by
creating exceptional opportunities for countries, companies, and individuals
around the world. Today chief executive officers worldwide recognize the
strategic role that the Internet plays in their organization’s ability to
endure and compete in the future. According to Basu and Muylle (2007),
Companies in every industry have evaluated the opportunities and threats
presented by E-Business. By thinking strategically about E-Business, managers
can select technological solutions that support the company’s business
strategies and create value for the company and its customers.
In the words of Balachandher, Santha, Norhazlin, and Rajendra
(2001), this revolution in the marketplace has set in motion a revolution in
the banking sector for the provision of a payment system that is compatible
with the demands of the electronic marketplace. According to Awad (2000), there
are four electronic commerce activities that users perform. These activities
require a banking relationship and are shopping, banking, investing, and online
electronic payment for Internet services. The enormous increase in the internet
is changing the way businesses interact with consumers as most businesses are
now conducted using the internet. Online banking according to Daniel (1999) is
therefore defined as the provision of information or services by a bank to its
customers over the internet.
The economy of Ghana is picking up the service industry
especially the banking industry as they are extending their national and
regional coverage to be able to provide the needed financial service and there
will be a need for these businesses to understand if, when and how to use
E-Business. In some industries, businesses are learning now that this is no
longer an option to consider, but a requirement for survival. Internet banking
allows customers to perform a wide range of banking transactions electronically
via the bank’s Web site. When first introduced, Internet banking was used
mainly as an informational medium in which banks marketed their products and
services on their Websites. With the development of secured transaction
technologies, more banks are using Internet banking as a transactional as well
as an informational medium. As a result Internet banking users can now perform
common banking transactions such as writing checks, paying bills, transferring
funds, printing bank statements and checking account balances online using a
computer (Acharya & Kagan, 2004).
E-banking has facilitated banking transactions for customers
and bankers alike. Whereas it is faster, easily accessible, more convenient and
readily available for customers, it is cost saving to bankers. Owing to this,
e-banking has been gaining popularity as a potential medium for electronic
commerce (Crede, 1995).
E-finance has numerous effects on the performance of the
banks and therefore to realise the contributions of internet-banking to the
growth of a country, Nupur (2010) noted that there was the need for the
increase in internet access, development of new online banking features, growth
of household internet usage, and the development of a good legal and regulatory
framework. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the knowledge and utilization
of e-banking facilities in Kaaseman Rural Bank in Ghana.
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