An investigation of consumer acceptance of M-banking

Purpose - This paper aims to identify and test the key motivators and inhibitors for consumer acceptance of mobile phone banking (M-banking), particularly those that affect the consumer's attitude towards, and intention to use, this self-service banking technology. Design/methodology/approach - A web-based survey was undertaken where respondents completed a questionnaire about their perceptions of M-banking's ease of use, usefulness, cost, risk, compatibility with their lifestyle, and their need for interaction with personnel. Correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analysis, with Sobel tests, were used to determine whether these factors influenced consumers' attitude and intention to use M-banking. Findings - Perceived usefulness, perceived risk, cost and compatibility were found to affect consumer acceptance of M-banking. The results also support a mediation model, whereby attitude transfers the affects of the consumers' perceptions to their intention to use M-banking. Research limitations/implications - The sample used in this study contained a skew toward younger male consumers, affecting the generalisability of the results. Practical implications - Developing marketing programs that focus on creating a positive attitude toward M-banking should attract consumers to this emerging electronic banking channel. Specifically, marketers should emphasise M-banking's usefulness and compatibility with consumers' lifestyle, in addition to designing M-banking systems that minimise risk and cost to the consumer. Originality/value - This paper validates and further develops an existing attitudinal model in the M-banking context, answering the call for additional research to generalise and improve the explanatory power of self-service technology acceptance models to other groups and countries.