Factors Influencing The Adoption And Redesign Of The Ewallet Service In Namibia

ABSTRACT

The use of mobile phones in everyday life has increased dramatically in recent years, making mobile phones a very integral part of our lifestyle. Namibia is amongst 105 countries with more cellular subscriptions than inhabitants. The increased ownership of smart phones and the affordability of mobile data packages offered more ways for banks to make even more services available such as, customer-to-customer direct payment services. Banks have rolled out this service under various names such as eWallet, Blue-Wallet and EasyWallet. This means that, consumers no longer have to walk around with a wallet full of cards or cash as their cell phones offer access to their banks, and convenience of banking everywhere. Despite the potential benefits to consumers, especially those without bank accounts, the adoption rate among consumers was limited. The aim of this research was to investigate the factors that are influencing consumer adoption of the eWallet service in Namibia and provide insights on how to redesign the eWallet service for increased adoption. The research methods included a semi structured questionnaire and interviews. The findings of the research indicates that, factors such as effective communication, system availability and reliability, transaction speed, usefulness, cost, system response, security and trust, convenience and accuracy of transaction influencing consumer adoption of eWallet services. A redesign of the eWallet service based on the findings and design heuristics were proposed.