E-Banking Strategy And Financial Performance Of Commercial Banks In Kenya

ABSTRACT

The advancement in technology in the banking industry has led to the emergence of electronic banking (e-banking), which has revolutionized the way banks provide their services. The application of different technologies in the banking industry has become a competitive strategy employed by commercial banks in Kenya. Consequently, modern banks have decided to adopt and implement e-banking strategies to remain competitive. However, limited knowledge is available regarding the effect of e-banking strategies on commercial banks’ financial performance in Kenya. This study was set out to appraise the influence of mobile banking, agency banking, internet banking, and the use of ATMs the commercial banks’ financial performance in Kenya. In elucidating the influence of e-banking strategies, the study employed contingency theory, agency theory, technology acceptance theory, and diffusion of innovations theory. As a research design, the study utilized the descriptive approach. The study used purposive sampling in selecting 100 respondents, constituting senior managers (n = 40) and operations managers (n = 60). In data analysis, the study used descriptive statistics, as well as inferential statistics, namely correlation and regression analyses. According to correlation analysis, agency banking (r = 0.737, p = 0.000), mobile banking (r = 806, p = 0.000), ATM banking (r = 0.547, p = 0.000) and internet banking (r = 0.466, p = 0.000) have statistically significant associations with the commercial banks’ financial performance. Regression shows that e-banking explains 71% (R2 = 0.710) of the variance of the commercial banks’ financial performance. Additionally, the study identified mobile banking and agency banking as statistically significant predictors (p0.01). Overall, the findings of this study suggest that commercial banks should employ e-banking strategies to improve their financial performance, predominantly agency banking and mobile banking. Also, the study recommends that commercial banks should not rely on internet banking and ATM banks because they contribute marginally to commercial banks’ financial performance in Kenya. Thus, future studies need to consider other factors explicate the remaining variance of 29%, which is unexplained by e-banking strategies examined in this study.