Digital readiness and the adoption of self-service banking technologies in South Africa

Abstract

Digital technologies are rapidly transforming banking; in turn, this has changing customers’ choices and preferences for interacting with banks. Digital banking channels have somewhat become a double-edged sword for the banking industry in that, on the one hand, they enhance customer convenience and 24/7 accessibility. On the other hand, these innovative technologies create a marketing challenge whereby bank managers need to learn and understand new consumer behaviours and trends for them to keep up with customer needs and to remain competitive. As such, it becomes necessary for marketers to understand consumer decision making processes related to self-service banking technologies. Of particular importance, consumers’ choice behaviour related to adoption and usage patterns of banking channels become critical. Although past studies have looked at consumers’ adoption of self-service technologies, rapid advances in technology dictates the need for research to revisit determinants of consumer adoption of these banking technologies.