AWARENESS AND ADOPTION OF MOBILE FINANCIAL SERVICES

Abstract 

It comes as no surprise that the contemporary version of the Pakistani market has undeniably developed into an emerging market for Fintech, with increasing facilitation in the form of digital payments, widely accessible internet, significant smartphone penetration and booming online commerce (Kumail Abbas Rizvi et al.). In addition to this, it is important to acknowledge how the industry is in the seed stages, where the government has an essential role to play. Therefore, in accordance with the perspective above, this research study aims to provide a qualitative assessment of the consumers that are directly or partially in contact with the mobile banking services offered by prominent key players in the country. The paper will structurally analyze and highlight the relationships and correlations that exist amongst the various factors affecting the usage of MFS. In addition to this, the study will incorporate geographical and socio-economic determinants into the scope of the research, particularly considering those variables that are increasingly relevant in the context of Pakistani society. 

Key findings

From the analysis, certain significant factors were found to determine the usage of MFS in Pakistan that include rural-urban classification, value proposition specifically to the marginalized groups, trust and small number of merchants using the technology. Results revealed that in rural centers, citizens are still not using the technology mainly because of the lack of internet and smartphone usage or they currently do not understand the value proposition which MFS brings to them. Furthermore, the financial privacy concerns, lack of trust and having only a handful of merchants that are using the technology to accept payments, were found as potential reasons hindering the growth of MFS in Pakistan 

Implications

This research suggests that Pakistan needs to create financial literacy programs so that the marginalized communities understand the usefulness of the system. Similarly, MFS providers need to fully understand how these marginalized groups earn, save and spend before they can market the product in a way that communicates value to these communities. MFS providers also need to ensure that the security concerns of the consumers are dealt with in a proper manner, and that the platforms are safe to use.