Customers’ Awareness and Patronage of Electronic Payment Options in Rural Communities

Abstract

This paper sought to ascertain the extent to which rural dwellers embrace electronic payment practices as well as evaluate the channels of residents’ awareness of e-payment options. The population of study are the entire residents of rural communities in Bayelsa state while the accessible population are conveniently selected communities in Ogbia kingdom. A qualitative research design was adopted in the study. Focus group interview method was engaged to gather data from the respondents. The audio tape recorded responses were transcribed and translated by three experts in Ogbia language. In order to avoid bias in interpretation, NVivo software was employed to produce a word cloud. The common themes of the study were point of sales, mobile banking and internet banking as access to banking services and word of mouth communication as the primary channel of awareness of e-payment option in rural communities. The study specifically report that rural customers commonly adopt the POS, USSD as the most preferred electronic payment options. In terms of the most frequently adopted mode of payment, internet banking method that is principally driven by the use of USSD was the common choice. From the foregoing, this paper conclude that electronic banking practices is become a norm in rural communities. However, this paper recommends that banks among other things should invest in and deploy mobile ATMs vans for higher level of e- payment adoption in rural communities.

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