The Effect of ICT Adoption on the Financial Performance of Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies in Nairobi County

Abstract

SACCOs like other financial institutions have continued to grow their asset base and are coming up with more innovative products to meet their customers’ demands. However, the level of their performance has been antecedent on the efficiency with which they provide their financial services to the customers which has made ICT adoption quintessential. The objective of the study is to establish the effect of ICT adoption, size and product diversification on the financial performance of SACCOs. Descriptive research design was used targeting both deposit and non-deposit taking SACCOs in Nairobi County which were 45 and 1000 respectively. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting 40 SACCOs and secondary data collected from their financial statements. Descriptive and inferential analysis techniques were used involving mean, standard deviation, median, minimum and maximum values. Inferential analysis through multiple linear regression analysis was also conducted. The results indicate that an increase in ICT adoption leads to an increase in SACCOs financial performance. Adoption of ICT results to the improvement in payments, processing or reduction in service time due to the new ways to deliver financial services electronically to customers. Besides, Size of the SACCOs has positive effect on the financial performance as large SACCOs generate superior performance due to their diversified capabilities and ability to exploit economies of scale fully. Increase in the growth of SACCOs assets increase their profitability. However, regulatory restrictions and requirements hinder the effect of ICT adoption on performance. SACCO assets provide collateral which enable them borrow funds from commercial banks to lend to its members. The result also revealed the joint effect of size and product diversification on financial performance