Assessing Unmet Needs of Small Merchants in Adopting Digital Payment Systems in Ghana
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2015
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IMTFI Final Report
Abstract
This study investigates unmet needs of small merchants in rural and urban Ghana regarding adoption and utilization of digital payment systems. The primary research questions are: what are the most salient unmet needs of small merchants in adopting digital payment platforms for businesses? What value added services are required by small merchants to encourage adoption and utilization of digital payment platforms for daily business transactions? How are the needs of both rural and urban small merchants appropriately addressed by financial regulatory policies to boost adoption and utilization of digital payment systems for their business transactions and other financial needs? To answer these questions, the study triangulates the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovation (DI) theory to undertake the study. TAM is based on two main assumptions: Perceived usefulness (PU) and Perceived ease of use (PEOU). TAM does not only attempt to explain the use of an innovation but it also offers explanations to help researchers and practitioners identify why a particular system may be unacceptable so as to enable appropriate steps to be pursued. TAM is consistent with the theory of DI where technology adoption is a function of a variety of factors including relative advantage and ease of use. A mixed method research design is adopted for this study. The essence of this research is to inform stakeholders in the digital payment platform about the needs of neglected majority of SMEs in adopting and utilizing the system for financial business transactions in this digital age.