Satisfaction on Digitalization of the Remittance Center

_________________

A Thesis Proposal
Presented to
the Faculty of the School of Graduate Studies
Biliran Province State University
Naval, Biliran

_________________

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts in Education
Major in Science

_________________

GORRE, RIX S.
CANETE, MARY GRACE D.
CANETE, CHRISTY JANE P.
MENDOZA, KIMBERLY G.
07/27/2022
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The Internet has developed into a potent instrument for linking people,

information, ideas, resources, and services in our digital age. It now serves as the

economy's primary driver, creating jobs, revolutionizing entire industries, enhancing

infrastructure, and facilitating effective global communication between businesses

and individuals. Citizens are less likely to be inspired to engage in today's

information society if their Internet connection is slow. In some nations, the

significance of this technology is widely acknowledged, and the right to

communication via broadband Internet connection is referred to as a basic right.

Over the past few decades, the Philippines has steadily caught up to other nations in

terms of providing Internet connectivity to the country.  Achieving this landmark

paved the way for development and gave Filipinos access to all the information the

Internet has to offer. With a growth over the previous five years, the Philippines was

identified as having the fastest-growing Internet population. Its population is

anticipated to hit the highest mark this year. At various points during the past few

years, the nation has also been referred to as the "social media capital of the world"

and the "texting capital of the world." The degree of consumer technology and

mobile involvement has grown to set the nation apart from its fast-growing peers in

Asia.

The World Bank has just released figures that put the total amount of

remittances received in 2010 at $325 billion, an increase of 6% from 2009. And it is

projected that there are 215 million people residing outside of their country of birth,

which represents 3% of the world's population (a majority of them from the

developing nations). Remittances enhance the economy (especially if the economy

is that of a developing country), according to the overwhelming consensus of

academics, experts, and the general public (e.g. Ang 2007, Taylor 1995, 2003, Yang

2008, etc). Remittances can give countries access to capital without forcing them to

incur debt, which is a benefit. Many of the organizations that give money to

developing nations frequently demand that the recipient nation use the money to

achieve goals that the giving organization deems suitable. The World Bank

frequently sets priorities and conditions for how the donated monies must be used.

Failure to adhere to the targeted organization's mission could have detrimental

effects on the nation receiving the funds. The country's inability to get current and

future funding is just one of several clear consequences. Remittances, on the other

hand, offer nations a type of indirect aid through their inhabitants. Therefore, it is not

unexpected that a significant share of the GDP in many developing nations comes

from remittances. With remittances making up 10% of its GDP, the Philippines is a

prime example. Remittances, even at the micro level, provide households the

freedom to use the money anyway they see fit unlike other forms of financial

assistance. Remittances enable part of the money to be made available to the

households in this way. The households can now easily satisfy their basic

necessities, freeing up additional funds for spending on healthcare, education, and

other expenses. Remittances have been described as a type of safety net by some.

Remittances have a tendency to remain stable in times of economic distress,

providing much-needed support (although the current crisis challenges this theory).

Additionally, they serve as a conduit for the transfer of knowledge and technology
from other nations, particularly from people residing in highly industrialized nations

like the United States and Europe. A Filipino IT student studying in the United States

who later establishes a computer learning institution at home is an illustration of this

transfer channel. The benefits are numerous, but the point still stands that

remittances are crucial for underdeveloped countries specially when dealing on the

internet connectivity. However, some opponents appear to present a pessimistic

view of the effects of unstable internet connection on remittances (e.g. Chami 2003,

Haskar, Burges 2005, etc).

7,641 islands make up the archipelago that is the Philippines (Santos, 2016).

It is also well recognized for having a large number of foreign workers, which the

Philippine Statistics Authority projected to be 2.4 million in 2015. (Bersales, 2016).

After China and India, the Philippines received the most remittances, according to

Torres (2015). (Nair, 2016). Additionally, according to Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas

(BSP), the Philippines received US$25.8 billion in cash remittances in 2016,

accounting for 10% of the country's overall GDP (Nair, 2016). About 42% of Filipinos,

according to the World Bank's 2013 study, do not have bank accounts (Nair, 2016).

For these reasons, it had separated the delivery of financial services in rural and

urban areas (Nair, 2016). Due to inadequate accessibility of Filipinos in remote

areas, new methods of money transfer are required in order for the families of

abroad workers to be able to meet their basic necessities (Nair, 2016). And as a

result, it gave rise to a cutting-edge innovation called cashless payments. Now that

money transfers will be more readily available, this invention can aid in removing the

financial obstacles (Nair, 2016).

Additionally, the number of cashless transactions in the Philippines has grown

as young, urban Filipinos increasingly choose to shop online (Nair, 2016). Due to
this, BSP was heavily involved in the development of cashless transactions,

collaborating with both government and private sector organizations to create new

cashless solutions (Nair, 2016). The National Strategy for Financial Inclusion, which

emphasizes the need of technology to reach out to individuals who are financially

excluded, was also launched by the government in 2015 as part of their push to

make the Philippines a cash-lite society in a 20-year period (Banko Sentral ng

Pilipinas, 2012; Nair, 2016). But despite the BSP's strong top-down backing, the

Philippines continues to rely on cash and check payments (Nair, 2016).

By presenting data from representative surveys of remittance centers on the

pattern of Internet connectivity to satisfy consumer satisfaction, this paper seeks to

close this research gap. The report thus makes an attempt to respond to the central

query using survey data amassed by the researchers. as a result, how solid is the

internet connection when checking customer satisfaction?

However, this target can be done if the objective is clearly defined what do

you want to achieve and by when the target to be accomplished. For example, if the

respondent focuses on assessing the customer even if the internet connection was

unstable to meet the customer satisfaction.

Based on this observation, the researchers conduct a study on assessing

customer satisfaction with the challenges in obtaining internet connectivity as basis

for a proposed customer satisfaction enhancement program.

Statement of the Problem

This study aimed to determine on how remittance centers deal with the

pattern of internet connectivity in assessing customer satisfaction.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following objectives:

1. Experience of the customers on the digitalization of remittance centers

2. To assess the perception of the customers on the efficiency of the remittance

center.

3. To ascertain the satisfaction of the customers on the remittance centers.

Framework of the Study

This study takes hold of the following theoretical and conceptual framework as

its main solid foundations in the due of its proceedings.

Theoretical framework. This study is anchored on the expectancy-

disconfirmation theory, and the perceived disconfirmation paradigm in particular

(Oliver, 1977, 1980, 1981), limit the conclusiveness of disconfirmation research.

According to the perceived disconfirmation paradigm, disconfirmation should be

conceptualized as a standalone psychological construct and, as such, be measured

directly by asking consumers if a performance was better than expected or worse

than expected. In contrast to other operationalization's of disconfirmation, directly

measured perceived disconfirmation should be unrelated to initial expectations.

However, the propositions of the perceived disconfirmation paradigm are

problematic, because (a) the assumption of expectation-disconfirmation

independence is in contradiction to the definition of disconfirmation as a cognitive

comparison between perceived performance and initial expectations, and (b)

consumers cannot assess their initial expectations at the time when perceived

disconfirmation is measured (Westbrook & Reilly, 1983; Yi, 1990).

 According to expectancy- disconfirmation theory, consumer satisfaction is

determined by performance expectations, perceived performance, and the cognitive

comparison of perceived performance with performance expectations, termed

disconfirmation (Churchill & Surprenant, 1982; Oliver, 1980).

Oliver (1977, 1980, and 1981) proposed the perceived disconfirmation

paradigm, which also established direct measurement and linear route analysis as

the standard methodological approaches in the field of disconfirmation research.

However, because results from direct tests of discrepancy perceptions are highly

vague and sometimes biased, direct measurement is a problematic technique to

operationalize a discrepancy concept like disconfirmation (Edwards, 2001).

Additionally, linear path models including perceived disconfirmation are susceptible

to incorrect results since they are unable to detect any potential non-linear

expectancy disconfirmation effects (Edwards & Parry, 1993; Venkatesh & Goyal,

2010).

Conceptual framework. The conceptual framework in figure 1. Illustrates the

purpose, nature and position of the study relative to the perception of the customers

on the efficiency of the remittance center. The rationale of the paradigm is explained

as illustrated below the different variables were considered in the conceptualization

of this study.
 INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Demographic profile of Factors

the respondents.

1. Age
2. Sex
3. Educational 1. Environment
attainment 2. Customers Customer satisfaction
3. Internet enhancement
4. Experience on connectivity program
assessing customer in
terms of:
a. No Internet
connection
b. Poor Internet
connection
c. Light Internet
connection
d. Fast Internet
connection

Figure 1. Conceptual framework of the Study

Importance of the Study

This study is fact finding, and the results generated would be helpful to the

following people or entities.

Remittance Center.

Respondents. The outcome of this research will give an idea to the

respondents to know the perception of the customers on the efficiency of their

services through the pattern of internet connectivity. And this would help them to

become aware of the problems that encountered.

Future Researchers. The future researchers can benefit this study as their

future reference for various delimitations can benefit this study as their future

reference for various delimitations.

Scope and Delimitation of the study

This study focuses and limit on surveying the perception of the customers on

the efficiency of the remittance center. The scope is among representatives of

remittance centers in Naval, Biliran. Ten (10) representative employees were used

as a sample in conducting the survey. Its main purpose is to identify the common

problems that they encounter from the customers in terms of poor internet

connectivity and to propose possible solutions regarding this problem. This study

considers every aspect of employee’s personal information that has an impact on

their performance such as their educational background, their gender, and age. Each
of the respondents are given same questions to answer. And this study focuses on

the present school year, 20021-2022.

Definition of terms

Digitalization. The use of digital technologies to change a business model

and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities

Remittance center. Remittance centers are financial service providers that

allow people to send or receive money to anyone within the country or abroad.

Satisfaction. Fulfillment of one’s wishes, expectations, or needs, or the

pleasure derived from this.

Review on Related Literature

As defined, online remittance is a business transaction conducted over the

Internet (“Online remittance Define E-commerce at Dictionary.com,” n.d.). As

observed by Yu, His, and Kuo (2002), the onset of e-commerce was due to the

advent of Internet, which according to Huang and Chen (2002) and Baddeley (2004),

is continuously increasing (Chellapalli & Srinivas Kumar, 2016). It has become

important in two interrelated domains, which are Business-to-Business (B2B) and

Business-to Consumer (B2C) that influences the customers in creation and

customization of the products and methods on how the products and/or services are

delivered (Chellapalli & Srinivas Kumar, 2016; Rachna & Singh, 2013). Moreover,

according to Vulkan (2003), it offers its customers a convenient and efficient

shopping, banking transactions, and personal finance management experience,

where payments are done electronically, which in turn called electronic payments

(Chellapalli & Srinivas Kumar, 2016).

 As defined by Kalakota and Whinston (1997) and Humphery, Pulley, and

Vesala (1996), electronic payment is the financial exchange that happens in an

online environment, where the payments are initiated, processed, and received,

which is fundamental in e-commerce (Chellapalli & Srinivas Kumar, 2016; Rachna &

Singh, 2013). This is one of e-commerce’s most critical aspects and as per Koc

(2002), must be digitally secured (Chellapalli & Srinivas Kumar, 2016). Furthermore,

what constitutes electronic payment systems may vary depending on which country

it is being used (Chelawat & Trivedi, 2014). This is because of various regulatory

regimes and innovative instruments that is a substitute for cash, which triggered the

increase in the role of non-banks and non-cash payments (Chelawat & Trivedi,

2014).

Since electronic payments are now prevalent in many countries today, there

are various companies involved on setting up electronic or digital cashless payments

support. As per the European Central (2014), there is 36.39% online transactions

done through card payments mode and 2.32% through eMoney based on the

Eurozone 2012 report (LiebanaCabanillas, Muñoz-Leiva, & Sanchez-Fernandez,

2015). According to the B2C Electronic Commerce of the National Observatory for

Telecommunications and the Information Society, the top three payment transactions

are credit card (64.6%), cash on delivery (COD) (13.6%), and bank transfer (9.2%)

(LiebanaCabanillas et al., 2015). According to Wonglimpiyarat’s (2007) research,

smart card technology payment systems in USA, UK and several other European

countries, Australia, Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore has not yet become

revolutionary due to the organizations are more competitive rather than collaborative.

Furthermore, mobile phones paving its way would become an another means of

payment system (Mathew, Magnier-Watanabe, Pratheeba, & Balakrishnan, 2014).

 Because of the advent of online transactions, privacy, security and poor

internet connectivity become major concerns of users, especially on payment

process (Niranjanamurthy & Chahar, 2013). This is because users are required to

disclose sensitive information to the vendor and interruption of internet coonection,

which puts them at great risk (Niranjanamurthy & Chahar, 2013).

According to the research study of Rachna and Singh (2013), the issues and

challenges in electronic payment system are (1) Lack of Usability, where the online

forms require a lot of information from users and using of complex website interface

that make it difficult for the users to adopt; (2) Lack of Security, when e-commerce

becomes a target for acquiring personal sensitive information and/or stealing of

money due to users having to provide sensitive information online, such as credit

card details, not knowing if its transmission is secured; (3) Lack of Trust, which is

due to fraud, misuse, and low reliability; (4) Lack of Awareness, when users avoid

online mode of payments and still prefer the traditional payment transactions; (5)

Issues with eCash, which is not widely used due to limitations of the user and the

vendor should share the same bank that offers e-Cash; (6) Users Perception

Regarding Acceptance of Electronic Payment Systems, which could be because of

the neglect in the needs of both the users and vendors; (7) Online Payments are

not Feasible in Rural Areas due to poor internet connection, because in the

rural areas are mostly has unstable internet connectivity, which causes

unsatisfaction of customers; and (8) Highly Expensive and Time Consuming, this

is for the vendor side, where setting up an online payment systems would be costly,

which include set up cost, machine cost, and management cost among others than

physical mode of payment (Rachna & Singh, 2013).

 In the Philippines, even with a strong top-down support from BSP, it is still

dependent on cash and cheque mode of payments (Nair, 2016). According to Better

Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) (2015), out of the 2.5 billion (US$ 74 million) payments

made per month, only 1% are digital (Nair, 2016). As part of the initiatives of BSP to

further improve the electronic payment systems in the Philippines, they have

developed the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion that focuses on the

importance of technology to reach out to those who are financially excluded (Nair,

2016). One of the reasons why this is the case is that there is poor banking

access, poor internet connectivity for the reason that it is predominantly

confined in urban areas, but because of the online transactions are done

through the use of financial cards, there are now fewer background checks

when availing of debit cards and/or credit cards, which became widely used

(Nair, 2016). Furthermore, BSP had mandated banks to migrate their stripe

payment to Europay, MasterCard, and Visa (EMV) chip-enabled cards until

2017, which will help increase customer security and satisfaction in using

these financial cards through reducing card fraud (Nair, 2016). Moreover, the

National Retail Payment System (NRPS) aims to promote interoperability on

electronic payment transactions, enhance transparency and accountability in

financial transactions and allow provision of broader range of access in financial

services that could fill in the gap in the Philippine’s predicament on cashless

transactions, which BSP hopes to help boost the electronic payments done per

month from 1% to 20%, as reported by Rappler in 2015 (Nair, 2016).

 CHAPTER II

METHODOLOGY

This chapter present the method used by the researchers. It includes the

research design, locale of the study, the respondents and sampling procedures, the

research instrument, data gathering procedure, data scoring and analysis of

data/statistical treatment.

Research Design

The study will utilize qualitative-phenomenology approach. Phenomenology

is the scientific study of the appearance of things, of phenomena just as we see

them in our consciousness, and does not concern itself with matters of fact but seeks

to uncover meanings of the phenomena being studied (Gonzalez, 2010).

According to Creswell (2010) phenomenology describes the meaning of lived

experiences for individuals experiencing a particular phenomenon or concept.

Furthermore, Moustakas (1994) offered key concepts of phenomenology that will be

used in this study. They are as follows: phenomenology seeks meanings from

appearances and arrives at essences through intuition and reflection on conscious

acts of experience, leading to ideas concepts, judgments and understandings;

phenomenology is committed to descriptions of experiences and not explanations or

analysis; phenomenology is rooted in questions that give direction and focus to a

meaning, and in themes that sustain inquiry; phenomenology concerns itself with the

wholeness of the phenomena or concept being explored. It examines the

phenomena from many angles, sides and perspectives until a unified vision of the

essences of the phenomena is achieved; phenomenology focuses on the

appearances of things, a return to things just as they are given, removed from

routine and biases, from what we are told is true in the natural world of everyday

living; the researcher’s perception of the phenomena and the experience interrelates

with one another to make the objective subjective and vice versa; every perception

of the phenomena begins with the researcher’s personal sense of the experience

and what it means; the researcher’s own thinking, intuiting, reflecting and judging are

considered primary evidences of the scientific investigation; the research questions

must be constructed carefully so as to assure that primary words appear immediately

and guide the phenomenological process toward seeing, reflecting and knowing.

Research locale

This study will be conducted within the municipality of Naval, Biliran. Officially

the Municipality of Naval is a 2nd class municipality and the capital town among the

eight coastal component municipalities of the island province of Biliran. It is

composed of 26 barangays.

Research Respondents

In searching the respondents, a convenience sampling method was used. The

respondents of the study were the representative employees of remittance centers in

Naval, Biliran. There are ten (10) informants will be identified to participate in the
conduct of interview. These (10) informants were individually interviewed following

the rules and regulation of the government that prohibit the large gatherings of

people at a place as a preventive measure due to COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally,

face masks were provided to the participants, and alcohol-based hand sanitizers

were made available to each of the focus groups to further reduce the risk of COVID-

19. As Creswell noted (cited in Gonzalez, 2010), a phenomenological study needs

at least 10 participants in order to make assertions regarding the phenomenon of

interest. The 10 informants are all representatives of different remittance centers in

Naval, Biliran, assigned to manage customer service.

The following are criteria in the selection of research informants of this study;

informants are employees of a remittance centers in Naval, Biliran rendered at least

1 year in service.

Research Instrument

The study used a standardized interview questions as an instrument to gather

the needed information through personal interview of the informants.

Data Gathering Procedure

The study following the procedures in collecting the data, how the data were

analyzed and the ethical consideration.

It is noted that the collected data or information was through interview. A

permission letter was presented to the respondents for the gathering of data which

was chose through convenience sampling data. The researcher will make sure that

the social distancing protocol, wearing safety measures like face mask and face

shield will be maintain for sake of every one’s safety. Prior to the start of data

gathering, permission to conduct interview with the respondents who are

representatives of different remittance centers in Naval, Biliran was obtained first

from the Branch Manager for approval through letter request. Upon receipt of the

approved letter request from the Branch Manager, the researcher immediately

identifies informants for setting the interview schedule. After the interview was set,

researcher distributed the informed consent form to the informants and explained to

them the contents and purposes. After forms have been signed, the interview and

discussion started and documented using audio recorder. The interviews were done

in a language known and comfortable to the informants and were conducted in their

office for privacy purposes. Immediately after completion of the interview, recorded

conversation of the researcher and informants were transcribed accordingly and

translated. Ensuring accuracy and reliability of the transcriptions, audio recording

was made available for necessary verification made by any concerned

examiner/panel member. Results of the transcriptions were also made available to

the informants and signed by them as proof

Data Scoring

The data were collated, tallied, analyze and interpreted. To determine the

perception of the customers on the efficiency of the remittance center through the

pattern of internet connectivity, a 5-point Likert Scale was used labeled as:

Scale Description

5 Strongly Agree

4 Agree

3 Moderately Agree

2 Disagree
 1 Strongly Disagree

Treatment of Data

The frequency counts, percentage, and weighted average mean will be used

to analyze and interpret the data. To determine the profile of the respondents in

terms of age, sex, educational attainment and experience on assessing the

customer, percentage and rank were used.

The study utilized Colaizzi’s approach in analyzing the data. Transcription and

translation of languages and experiences of the informants were carefully taken. The

interview transcript was read and analyzed multiple times. Next step was the coding

of significant statements from the interview transcript of the informants. These

significant statements were translated and formulated meanings were created.

These formulated meanings were grouped and analyzed to form cluster themes.

From these cluster themes, emergent themes were identified. Emergent themes are

the final themes which describe the experiences of the informants to the present

phenomena being studied.

Ethical Considerations

This section discusses the ethical considerations that must be made by the

researcher before, during, and after the study's conduct. Safety and security,

consent and approval, and integrity and confidentiality were the most common

consideration in making this research. With this, the researcher made sure that the

identities of the informants were protected by not disclosing them to other persons.

Consent and approval from the informants were considered prior to the conduct of

interview. The researcher also explained to the informants the process and purpose
of the said interview and made sure that the interviews were participated voluntarily

by the said informants.

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Cited Literature
Appendices
Cited Literature
Curriculum Vitae