Managers and Employees’ Perception of the Impact of Electronic Banking on Bank Operational Efficiency. A Case of Commercial Banks in Zimbabwe

Simon Muwando

doi:10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p85

Abstract

The main objective of the paper is to assess the managers and employees’ perception of the impact of electronic banking on operational efficiency of commercial banks in Zimbabwe. An exploratory research design was employed to address the objectives of the study. Fifteen commercial banks operating in Bulawayo were chosen. The sample of the study consists of eighty participants composed of sixty management staff and twenty employees. A questionnaire and personal interviews were used to solicit information from the participants. The results revealed that electronic banking enhanced the operational efficiency of the commercial banks in Zimbabwe. There is need for the government to improve its legislation and telecommunication infrastructure for the banks to enjoy on a full scale the benefits of electronic banking. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p85

Highlights

Electronic banking is an extremely powerful delivery channel that offers many opportunities for growth and development of commercial banks
In Zimbabwe, the first visible form electrical innovation was in the early 1990s when Standard Chartered bank and Central African Building Society (CABS) installed Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) followed by Electronic Funds Transfer System (EFTs),Telephone banking, personal Computer(PC) banking, Internet banking which were later introduced into the country[2]
Is it electronic banking which led to operational inefficiency of commercial banks? [5] discussed briefly about the impact of e-banking on operational efficiency as they indicated that it led to systems reliability but they did not go into detail to discuss the management and employees’ perception of the impact of e-banking on other indicators of operational efficiency of a bank

Summary

Introduction

Electronic banking is an extremely powerful delivery channel that offers many opportunities for growth and development of commercial banks. Despite the adoption of electronic banking in Zimbabwean, commercial banks had problems in providing efficient services to their customers especially during the period 2003 to 2008 when the economy was under an economic crisis [3]. Even though the adoption of the multicurrency system in 2009 has stabilized the economy banks still face operational challenges. This assertion is evidenced by the high transaction costs and service fees on both savings and current accounts that range from 1% to 3% of the amount in case of withdrawals. This motivated the researchers to investigate in detail the managers and employees’ perception of the impact of e-banking on operational efficiency

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion