A survey of internet banking systems adoption by institutional customers in Kenya

Abstract

This study concerned adoption of Internet banking systems by institutional customers in Kenya. The study arises in the view of the fact that Internet banking has become important in transactional banking and has been adopted by institutions in Kenya. What needs to be known then is the extent of Internet banking adoption, the benefits of its use and the challenges faced in using these systems. It was in view of this that this study was conducted with the following objectives: to establish the extent of Internet banking systems adoption by institutional customers; to establish the benefits of using Internet banking systems and to establish the challenges faced by institutional customers using Internet banking systems. To address the objectives, a survey was done targeting all firms quoted in the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE). Data collection was done using questionnaires. Of the 52 institutions targeted for the study, there were 47 fully completed questionnaires which represented 90.4% response rate. Data collected from the respondents were analyzed using various statistical tools and the results were found adequate to make inferences and generalization of the state of Internet banking adoption in Kenya. Findings of the study indicated that most of the firms in Kenya have adopted Internet banking to a large extent with one or more banks where they hold their accounts. Most international and foreign owned firms had the needed infrastructure due to their head office support; hence they were utilizing Internet banking systems. Also the findings indicated that all foreign owned banks offered Internet banking systems to their institutional customers. There was consensus among the respondents that Internet banking had changed the way they did their banking and most of them had positive attitudes towards Internet banking systems. The results show that most firms had benefited through the use of Internet banking systems. Some of the benefits include integration with Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs), easier transaction reconciliation, access of Internet banking systems while traveling, frequency of calls to the banks had reduced and payments to suppliers had become easier and faster. The study also found that Internet banking system adoption faced numerous challenges. Poor Internet connectivity, unreliable Internet service providers, lack of legal frame-work to support Internet banking and limited growth of ICT in the country were found to be the most challenging factors. Other major challenges were related to the lack of top management commitment in some firms, Internet technology being too expensive to implement, computer literacy levels and unreliable Internet Service Providers (ISPs). In view of the above and in summary, it can be concluded that most of the corporates in Kenya have adopted Internet banking and have incorporated these systems in daily work processes. Most of the firms have found Internet banking useful in getting their account balances, for making key financial decisions, financial reconciliations and making payments to their various suppliers. Though they face a number of challenges as mentioned; the firms have tried their best in adopting Internet banking by having a positive attitude towards the new technology.