The adoption of electronic banking

in Tunisia: an exploratory study

Author: Dhekra AZOUZI

The adoption of electronic banking in

1
Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Motives
 The prompt explosion of innovations from the steam engine
to technological innovations

 The crucial implication of technology in all fields and

particularly in business and finance

 Tunisia was among pioneer countries to adopt technological

innovations

 Studies focusing on e-banking in Tunisia are scarce

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 The central question

Traditional paper-based transactions

Tunisian customers’
attitudes toward
e-banking?

Electronic network transactions

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Organisation

• Literature review
• Tunisian banking sector-background information
• Hypotheses
• Research methodology
• Empirical results
• Conclusion
• Limitations and future research

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Literature review

« Banking is essentiel, Banks are not »

(Bill Gates, 2008)

E-banking is "the automated delivery of new

and traditional banking products and
services directly to customers through
electronic, interactive communication
channels." (FFIEC, 2003)

Example: Automated Teller Machines (ATM), Internet, personal computers, mobile phones, …

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Literature review
• Factors influencing e-banking adoption decision: (Lee, 2009)

Perceived Perceived
risks benefits

Negative factors Positive factors

What are these perceived risks and benefits?

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Literature review
• Perceived risks:
« A combination of uncertainty and seriousness of outcome involved »
(Bauer, 1967)

« The potential for loss in the pursuit of a desired outcome of using an e-

service » (Peter and Ryan, 1976)

- The perceived risk is multidimensional (Cunningham, 1967; Jacoby and Kaplan, 1972
and Bellman et al., 1999).

Six facets:

• financial, performance, social, physical, privacy and time-loss.

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Literature review
• Perceived risks in e-banking:

 Financial risk: the potential monetary loss due to transactions errors

 Performance risk: the potential loss due to malfunctions of online

banking websites or unexpected disconnection from the Internet

 Social risk: the fear of being seen in a negative way by others (Kuisma et al.,
2007 and Agarwal et al., 2009)

 Privacy risk: the potential loss due to fraud or hackers (Lee et al., 2009)

 Time risk: It is the time’s loss due the lateness in receiving the payment or
the difficulty of navigation (Lee et al., 2009)

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Literature review
• Six or five perceived risk facets?

Using e-services:
is not harmful,
no threats to the human life,

No physical risks (Featherman and Pavlou, 2003)

Only five perceived risk facets in e-banking

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Literature review
• Perceived benefits in e-banking:

 Direct benefits: immediate and tangible advantages

Example: the lower transaction handling fees, higher deposit rates, opportunities to win
prizes and extra credit card bonus points, immediately available and transparent data, … (Lee,
2009)

 Indirect benefits: intangible and difficult to be assessed advantages

Example: the round-the-clock availability, the wide range of investment opportunities

such as stock quotations and news updates (Lee, 2009)

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Tunisian banking sector-background information

• The National Commission for electronic commerce and

electronic exchanges creation since 1997

• A law regulating these electronic exchanges was promulgated

on the 9th of August 2000

• The National Digital Certification Agency creation in 2001

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Tunisian banking sector-background
information
• The number of Tunisian internet users (January 2009): 2 810 000

• The number of credit cards (30/03/2009): 1 912 333

• The number of ATMs (30/03/2009): 1 289

• Tunisia is classified as the 38th country using information technology

in the world (among 134)

• Tunisia remains the leader in Africa and the 7th one in the
Mediterranean («Global Information Technology Report 2008-2009» ; ApiNews
n°3/2009)

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Tunisian banking sector-background
information
• The Tunisian Post has launched several electronic services:

 The E-clearing interbank company creation in 1999

 The WebTelegram (2003)

 E-DINAR electronic payment platform SPS (Le Blanc, 2005)

 The CCPnet

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Hypotheses
• The younger generation are more computer savvy
and thereby are more willing to adopt e-banking (Sadiq
Sohail & Shanmugham, 2003)

• The higher the respondent is literate and particularly

PC-literate, is the more likely to adopt e-banking (Brown
et al., 2003 and Sadiq Sohail & Shanmugham, 2003)

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Research Methodology
• A questionnaire with two parts:
 the demographic profile of the respondent
 the banking profile of the respondent

• A pilot study

• Data collection method: any person having a current account

A sample of 82 respodents

• Sphinx (V5)

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Demographic profile

Percentage Count Demographic characteristics

Age
61% 50 Between 18 and 30
20.7% 17 Between 31 and 40
7.3% 6 Between 41 and 50
11% 9 Above 50
Gender
43.9% 36 Male
56.1% 46 Female
Instruction-level
9.8% 8 Baccalaureate degree
58.6% 48 Master’s degree
19.5% 16 Doctorate
12.2% 10 Others

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Respondent banking profile
• 95% of respondents have access to internet but only few of
them use it for banking purpose

• 52.4% of the respondents prefer to go directly to banks

• The ATM is used solely or jointly to traditional banking by

48.8% of respondents

• Minitel banking is doomed to failure (1.2% of respondents)

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Results

• Young, PC-literate respondents are using or are willing to use

electronic banking particularly ATMs

• Women (56.5%) prefer conventional banking more than men

(47.2%)

• 52.8% of men seem choosing ATMs against 45.7% of women

• Young respondents are favoring on line banking

• All old respondents are traditional banking defenders

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Results

• Instruction’s and PC familiarization’s levels: two fundamental

variables influencing the adoption of electronic banking

• 75% of novices in using computers are loyal to traditional

banking

• 25% try to use ATMs

• 57.1% of experts are relying on ATMs in order to bank

• 61.1% of respondents having advanced computer knowledge are

loyal ATMs’ customers
The adoption of electronic banking in
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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Results
• The number of internet banking’s adopters is growing as and when
the respondents’ computer knowledge is brushed up
Minitel Internet ATM Traditional Banking’s channel
banking
PC familiarization’s level
0.0% 57.1% 57.1% 21.4% Expert

2.8% 25.% 61.1% 58.3% Advanced computer knowledge

0.0% 17.4% 39.1% 47.8% Average knowledge

0.0% 0.0% 25.0% 75.0% Novice

0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100% No knowledge of computer

PC familiarization’s level and preference for banking

(Sphinx 5’s output)
The adoption of electronic banking in
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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Results
• Gender, instruction and PC familiarization levels and age are
crucial variables impacting the customers’ attitudes toward
the adoption of e-banking

• Sphinx (V5) analysis shows, via the chi-2 test, that awareness
of e-banking products and services, ease of use, willingness
to adopt e-banking, convenience, internet access and
attitudes toward change influence significantly the adoption
of e-banking

• Such results differ slightly from those found by Sadiq Sohail

and Shanmugham (2003)
The adoption of electronic banking in
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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Conclusion

• Thanks to information technologies, banks are being able to

reach their customers anywhere at any time

• The conventional banking amateurs are primarily the older

women having no computer knowledge

• Awareness of e-banking products and services, ease of use,

willingness to adopt e-banking, convenience, internet access
are key factors

• The respondents’ attitudes toward change are a crucial factor

behind e-banking non-adoption

The adoption of electronic banking in

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Tunisia: an exploratory study
 Limits and future research
Limits

• The sample size is limited

• The sample is primarily composed of the educated Tunisians and

various opinions might therefore be not represented

Future research

• A more representative sample of Tunisians

• Comparative study focusing on differences in adoption processes

between different forms of banking channels
The adoption of electronic banking in
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Tunisia: an exploratory study