Internet Banking: An Initial Look at Ghanaian Bank Consumer Perceptions”

Abstract

Internet banking is now an important tool in the service delivery arsenal for banks all over the world. This study is situated in a developing country context and focuses on client-bank relationship and how Internet adoption may improve the qualitative relationship between banks and firms in Ghana and the business they serve. The study adopted a triangulation approach in meeting its objectives. A sample of 180 companies was sampled from the manufacturing, commerce, and services sectors of the economy. The findings of the study were mainly reported by means of descriptive statistics. The research findings indicate that Internet banking services are at its infant stage. Of the respondents, 68% had heard about Internet banking while 33% have never heard about it. 55% of the respondents said security concerns were the major barrier to the adoption of Internet banking. 55% of the firms responded were not connected to the Internet while 44.4% were connected to the Internet. Ghanaian firms use Internet banking to transfer money and to check their account balances. Majority of the interviewees said they would still visit the bank if their company adopts Internet banking. It seemed from the study that access to their account balance and understanding needs are the most important factors for facilitating a good bank client relationship for firms in Ghana and their banks. Banks in Ghana need to start considering the introduction of Internet strategies to assist in the development of customer relationship management (CRM) programs, which will ultimately go to increase the customer life time value of their clients. The paper is one of the first Internet banking studies from a West African context focusing on the usefulness of Internet banking technologies to bank clients.