Dissertation for Master's Degree
Department of Business Management - Transformation Trend
Abstract
Despite the many investments made in the field of using information technologies in the field of banking, reports indicate that some users do not use it despite having access to electronic payment technologies and systems. Meanwhile, the trust and security perceived by customers of electronic payment systems are among the most important factors influencing the use of these systems. Electronic payment systems are one of the electronic banking services, and in order for these systems to be superior to the traditional system, they must be reliable and free of security flaws. To attract, retain and return users of the electronic payment system, improving customers' perception of security and trust during electronic payment transactions is critical; Therefore, in the present research, the aim is to determine the impact of objective dimensions including transaction processes, technical protections and security statements on the amount of use of electronic payment systems with the two subjective dimensions of security and perceived trust among customers of the 9 branches of Bank Ekhtaz Novin in Mashhad. In this research, 18 hypotheses were proposed. The research method has a survey-applied nature. The data of this research has been collected through a survey of the customers of the Bank of New Economy of Mashhad and through a questionnaire. Construct validity was investigated using confirmatory factor analysis, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient greater than 0.7 for various constructs of the questionnaire confirmed its reliability. The statistical analysis of the data was done using the statistical method of structural equation models. The results showed that security mediates the relationship between objective dimensions and the amount of use of the electronic payment system. Also, trust mediates the relationship between the two dimensions of technical protections and transaction processes with the amount of use of the electronic payment system, but the mediating role of this dimension between the security statements and the amount of use of the electronic payment system was insignificant. Keywords: perceived security, perceived trust, electronic payment system, electronic banking, structural equation modeling. Human life has brought about many changes in organizations, and in addition to changing organizational structures, it has also changed the nature and role of business departments (Abadi, 2013). One of the essential tools for the realization and expansion of e-commerce is the presence of e-banking, which facilitates the operation and activities related to e-commerce in line with global financial and monetary policies. The use of electronic systems in the financial and credit institutions of the world is expanding rapidly and the number of users of electronic banking services is increasing day by day. Considering the wide and deep impact of electronic commerce in dominating the global markets, also considering the importance of monetary and credit exchanges in every business-economic activity, it is necessary that the tools and websters of money transfer and exchange also enjoy the appropriate and favorable growth in sync with the development of electronic commerce. In the meantime, banks have not been idle to attract more customers and expand and diversify their services, and have quickly adapted themselves to communication and information technologies. In the field of commercial developments, banks have paid serious attention to creating structural changes in the systems of receiving and paying money and creating facilities in the process of serving customers. In fact, it can be claimed that one of the reasons for the public interest in e-commerce is the attention of bank managers to the importance and necessity of this phenomenon, which has led to their tendency and serious attention to provide electronic banking structures (Bahmand, 2016). The existence of computers and the Internet has also led to its own security issues, where the possibility of security risks is higher for computers connected to networks such as the Internet. The spread of crimes committed with computers has been such that most of the countries of the world have fought against this phenomenon by implementing laws and are trying to curb it. In the meantime, the trust and security of customers in electronic payment systems are among the most important factors influencing the use of these systems. Therefore, this research seeks to investigate the role of security and trust in the use of electronic payment systems.
1-2- Statement of the problem
The global development of the Internet has led to the creation of electronic commerce. E-commerce has developed rapidly due to the freedom, speed, anonymity, digitality, and global reach that characterizes the Internet. E-commerce facilitates real-time business activities such as advertising, search and research, sourcing, negotiation, auction, order and payment (Cheng et al., 2002).
Many industries have been affected by e-commerce, but nowhere is the presence of e-commerce stronger than banking and financial services. By using technology and long-distance communication systems, banks can reach customers and provide services to them (Shamila et al., 2003).
E-commerce is built on the basis of electronic payment. As e-commerce has become a core component of business operations, electronic payment has become a critical factor for the success of businesses and financial services. Compared to traditional payment methods, electronic payment methods have advantages that include security, reliability, anonymity, acceptability, confidentiality, efficiency and convenience (Kim et al., 2009).
In order for an electronic payment system to be superior to the traditional system, it must be free of security flaws. The most important concern in electronic payments is the level of security at each stage of the transaction because goods and money are transferred while there is no direct connection between the two parties of the transaction (Cheng et al., 2002). The Gartner Group [1] reports that 95% of customers are concerned about security and privacy. Therefore, an essential factor in the success of e-commerce is security. In general, security includes a set of processes, mechanisms and computer programs to determine the validity of information sources and guarantee processes. Because most of the users are unfamiliar with the technical details of the electronic banking system, they evaluate the security level of the system based on their experiences in using the system. For this reason, to attract and retain users, it is crucial to increase the customer's perception of security and maintain their trust during the transaction (Kim et al., 2009).
Another factor that has been identified as a key factor for the growth of e-commerce is trust. The first and most important step to building trust is to ensure that customers' personal information is protected. People make important decisions about choosing a product or service based on trust in the company or product. In internet transactions, trust between the customer and the computer system under which the transaction takes place also becomes important (Belanger, 2002).
One of the most important industries of any country is the banking industry. In fact, banking forms the economic infrastructure of every country. Increasing the ability of banks to attract resources not only increases their profitability, but also makes the country's economic infrastructure stronger and makes other industries more fertile. Therefore, the development of methods to improve the decision-making of the country's banks is very important. Non-alignment with electronic banking and non-use of electronic payment system results in a lot of time cost for customers, and the possibility of using banking services for them is only during office hours and relies on branches. Banks also need a large number of human resources due to the existence of the traditional payment structure, and providing services to customers as well as their market will be limited in terms of location. In such a situation, New Economy Bank should provide modern financial services for customer orientation and paying attention to the needs and demands of its customers, and a reliable electronic payment system without security flaws can be used as an effective competitive tool against other competing banking and financial institutions. According to the issues raised, in order to attract, retain and return customers to the electronic payment system of Ekhtaz Novin Bank, it is vital to improve the customers' perception of security and trust during electronic payment transactions. Generally, all banks have the same service portfolio so that the customer is not able to fully discriminate between the services of the banks. Innovation in one bank is quickly applied in other banks. This intensity of using new services by other banks has even reached less than a week.