Natasha de Klerk

Mobile banking represents an important addition to retail banks’ digital banking channels and a salient tool for servicing both current and future customers. However, given the cybernetic nature of mobile banking, there is a certain degree of uncertainty and perceived risk associated with the use thereof. This uncertainty and perceived risk elevate the importance of trust in fostering mobile banking adoption. The Generation Y cohort, which encompasses today’s youth, represents an important current and future banking segment and their adoption of mobile banking channels could have a significant effect on the cost of servicing members of this cohort. Understanding the factors that positively contribute to the Generation Y cohort’s trust in mobile banking will help retail banks to better market their mobile banking channels to members of this cohort and thereby foster greater adoption of such channels. The study reported in this article considers the influence of the perceived integrity of the bank and the perceived system quality of mobile banking on Generation Y students’ perceived trust in mobile banking in the South African context. Data were gathered from a convenience sample of 334 students registered at three public South African university campuses using a self-administered questionnaire. The gathered data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and bivariate regression analysis. The results of the study suggest that Generation Y students’ perceived integrity of a bank, together with the perceived system quality of mobile banking, has a significant positive influence on their perceived trust in mobile banking.

Despite the benefits that mobile banking has to offer, coupled with positive mobile penetration rates, the use of mobile devices to perform banking transactions and access financial information is not as widespread as expected. The significantly sized Generation Y cohort is a rewarding market segment for retail banks. In South Africa, however, this cohort’s mobile banking adoption is largely under-researched. Understanding the antecedents that positively influence Generation Y students’ attitudes towards and usage behavior of mobile banking will assist retail banks in their efforts to tailor their business and marketing strategies effectively towards this cohort, and in doing so, foster increased acceptance of their mobile channels. As such, the purpose of this study was to extend the technology acceptance model (TAM) and determine the influence of perceived ease of use, relative advantage, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, perceived integrity and the perceived system quality of mobile banking on South African Generation Y students’ attitudes towards and usage behavior of mobile banking. Following a descriptive research design, self-administered questionnaires were completed by a non-probability convenience sample of 334 students registered at the campuses of three registered public South African universities located in the Gauteng province. Data analysis included correlation analysis and structural equation modeling. The findings suggest that while perceived ease of use, perceived integrity and the perceived system quality predict Generation Y students’ mobile banking usage behavior, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and the perceived relative advantage of mobile banking predict attitudes towards mobile banking, which, in turn, predict their mobile banking usage behavior.