Factors affecting to the Usage of Mobile Banking Applications (With special reference to Gampaha District)

Abstract

Mobile banking (M-banking) has provided a significant opportunity for the banking sector (Tam & Oliveira, 2017; Troy & Connor, 2016; Zhang, 2018; Luvern & Lynn, 2005). Various studies have been concluded by various scholars and researchers globally as well as in Sri Lanka focusing on various fields related M-banking, online banking, technology-based self-services. It is worth noting with regard to research and adoption rate of M-banking application (for smartphone) this study found that there are just a few of the previous research studies that reach the most important precedents regarding users’ desire to use those applications (Lee, Hew & Wei, 2015). Furthermore, despite the recent and various extensions of the TAM model of Davis et al. (1989) only a few studies have focused on the factors that contribute to the acceptance of these mobile applications with a holistic approach that integrates several related principles like perceived risk and social image (Liebana-Cabanillas et al., 2014) or social influence, subjective norms (Bashir & Madhavaiah, 2015). However, the present study is conducted with a special reference to the Gampaha district with the aim of examine the factors that affected to the usage of M-banking applications. Technological advances have accelerated competition between banks through the digitalization of banking services. The challenge for Sri Lanka now is to develop a M-banking strategy that adds value to their customers and to encourage them to switch from costly branches to M-banking. To achieve this, it is essential for banks to utilize the unique capabilities of the mobile platform to offer new value proposals to their customers. Encouraging their customers to use M-banking applications can save financial institutions significant operating and marketing costs. Many banks today offer M-banking applications, but their use is still in its infancy (Lakmal & Wijethunga, 2019). Therefore, the main problem here is to study it in more depth and identify the factors that influence the use of the Mbanking application and the impact of those factors. This study uses an online survey of a sample taken from one district in Sri Lanka. The sample in this study was described as respondents with banks over 18 years of age. This was due to the fact that banking applications could only be used by those over the age of 18, and the use of online surveys was limited to a large number of customers in the Western Province and Internet users with all facilities. The importance of this research is illustrated by its focus on key factors affecting the use of mobile banking applications in Sri Lanka. In addition, these findings could be applied to other developing countries. Since there have been a small number of previous studies focusing on mobile banking applications, the present study can be considered as a significant turning point in this research direction to focus primarily on the use of mobile banking applications in the Sri Lankan context from a consumer perspective.