Factors Influencing the Short Message Service (SMS) Mobile Banking Adoption: A Users’ Perspective in the West Nile Region in Uganda

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate empirically which factors contribute to the adoption of Short Message Service (SMS) banking in the West Nile region in Uganda based on student mobile users who own bank accounts. Respondents were drawn from 3 University Campuses in the West Nile region in Uganda where students and mobile users who own bank accounts were identified. Through purposeful sampling, a self-administered questionnaire was administered to a sample of 90 graduate students from the three selected University Campuses with 60 questionnaires returned hence a response rate of 70%. Quantitative statistics that includes means, frequencies and percentages were used to analyze the data. The results reveal that there is strong positive relationship between financial cost, quality of Internet connectivity, complexity and trialability as far as SMS banking adoption is concerned. Age and gender also played a significant influence in SMS banking at different categories of students. Whereas perceived ease of use, security and trust influence were not significant for SMS banking adoption. Consequently, the study conclude that in order to increase adoptability of SMS banking, banks in liaison with telecom service providers, are advised to improve on the Internet connectivity and affordability to support usage of mobile money platform.

Keywords: Short Message Service (SMS) mobile Banking, Adoption factors, Users Perspective, and West Nile Region