Customer perception of adoption and use of digital financial services and mobile money services in Uganda

Tapiwanashe James Museba, Edmore Ranganai and Gianfranco Gianfrate

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, 2021, vol. 15, issue 2, 177-203

Abstract: Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the impact of fintech, mobile money and digital financial services in Uganda and factors impacting adoption of the services. The study will also determine their social impact through financial inclusion in the Ugandan market. Design/methodology/approach - This study covers the adoption and use of fintech, mobile money and digital financial services in Uganda. A case study approach was used through a survey questionnaire for 400 randomly selected participants within the Kampala region. Questionnaire was designed to measure customer perception of digital financial services and adoption including mobile money and agency banking. Findings - The adoption of mobile money services is driven by mobile devices penetration and the need for access to financial products and services for the unbanked. Results support CGAP (2013) that observed that mobile money adoption was based on two key variables: social network and social interactions of the customer and a segment of customers who can be described as mobile technology leaders (early adopters). There has been positive impact on person to person transfers, grocery payments and mobile money providers have to continue to simplify the access to financial services and bring convenience to the bottom of the pyramid. And mobile money positively impacts sustainable developmental goals covering Gender Equality (SDG5), SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth; expanding financial inclusion through mobile money and SDG 10 – Reduce Inequalities. Research limitations/implications - This study has limitations commonly prevalent with qualitative research, including the small size limited to Kampala and challenges of making generalisations beyond this context. Practical implications - The paper might serve as a valuable source of information for government and fintech companies in developing the digital financial services ecosystem as well as for students and academics for further case studies in this area. Originality/value - This paper serves as one of the first qualitative research papers concerning mobile money and digital financial services adoption, solely focused on Uganda. Its value is in its showcasing of the importance of mobile money among customers in emerging markets.

Keywords: Disruptive innovation; Mobile money; Financial inclusion; Fintech; Digital financial services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jecpps:jec-07-2020-0127

DOI: 10.1108/JEC-07-2020-0127

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy is currently edited by Prof Leo Dana and Andrea Caputo

More articles in Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().