Customers′ Risk Perceptions of Electronic Payment Systems

Abstract

One reason for the slow adoption rate of Electronic Fund Transfer at Point‐of‐Sale (EFTPoS) is that consumers perceive that EFTPoS has a higher level of risk than other traditional payment methods. Makes use of a concept in consumer behaviour and perceived risk to study the differences of consumers′ risk perceptions among alternative payment methods and whether these perceptions will be affected by the size of purchase and EFTPoS usage experience. The major findings are: (1) EFTPoS has the lowest physical risk and highest financial risk, the credit card has the lowest psychological risk and highest time loss risk, while cash has the highest physical risk and lowest performance risk; (2) Physical risk, financial risk and time loss risk for cash payment are significantly higher when the purchase is large, while performance risk for EFTPoS and credit card payment is significantly higher when the purchase is small; and (3) users of EFTPoS have a significantly higher level of perceived financial and time loss risk than non‐users, while non‐users have higher level of psychological risk. The overall finding is that the risk profile of EFTPoS is similar to that of the credit card but significantly different from cash.