Influence of electronic banking services on customer service delivery in banking industry, A case of Bungoma County, Kenya

Abstract

A global explosion in the use of electronic commerce has been witnessed in recent times with the monetary value of products and services exchanged electronically being estimated at above US$ 7 trillion in the year 2004. Research has followed the same pattern especially in investigating factors influencing the adoption and effectiveness of e-commerce in retail businesses. However, little has been done to establish these factors in electronic banking (e-banking) in developing countries. Are customers satisfied by the services offered by the e- banking channels as compared to the traditional over-the counter service? Statistics obtained on number of over the counter transactions in these banks in the past one month indicated that indeed, over the counter transactions are still preferred by many clients. The question that is raised then is why? The purpose of this research was to establish the influence of electronic banking services on customer service delivery in banking industry in Bungoma County, Kenya. The objectives of the research were to: determine how of Information Communication and Technology influence customer service delivery; evaluate how customer service delivery is influenced by mobile devices; establish the influence of electronic banking in customer service delivery and explore the influence of bank employees in e-banking services and customer service delivery in the banking industry in Bungoma County, Kenya. The Theory of Reasoned Action, (TRA) which was developed to better understand relationships between attitudes, intentions and behaviors (Fishbein, 1967) was used in the theoretical framework. . This is one of the most important theories that are used to explain human behaviors. The study was conducted using cross-sectional design in which the researcher collected data at one point in a time and analyzed it instead of following the target population in order to analyze changes in behavior over a long period of time. The target population was 308 correspondents drawn from heads of electronic banking and their immediate reporters in ten commercial banks in Bungoma County. A sample size of 174 correspondents was used. Data was collected through questionnaires, open-ended semistructured interviews and focused group discussions. Data analysis technique was by content analysis method. Data was analyzed in chapter four and represented in tables. Summary, conclusions and recommendations were made in chapter five. The study findings showed a great influence of e-banking services on customer service delivery. The study suggests to the banks to give high priority to customer service delivery and consider electronic banking as important key drivers towards successful implementation of customer service delivery. Recommendations include the following; Banks to continually train their staff on IT to realize benefits of e-banking both to them and their customers, which in turn improves customer service delivery. To the government, for Electronic transactions, which utilize the PIN, the PIN must be recognized by the Court as being key and crucial to such transaction and there must be a method of upholding its validity in a transaction. This assures users of security while using e-banking services. Also, banks need to regularly carry out customer surveys so as to understand their customer needs and develop e-banking services with customer driven strategies.