Online banking adoption in Spanish cities and towns. Finding differences through TAM application

Abstract

This study aims to explore the differing online banking adoption in Spanish cities and towns through Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). This paper is the first to unveil such differences between cities and towns. Data was collected from the Centre for Sociological Research and analyzed with PLS-SEM through SmartPLS. The analyzed model comprised perceived ease of use (PEOU), perceived usefulness (PU), and online banking use behaviour (UB) as variables directly associated. Perceived security (PS) was included as a mediator of the effects in UB. Multi-group analysis (MGA) and Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) were implemented. Most of the hypothesised direct and indirect effects were statistically significant and found support for both cities’ and towns’ populations. PEOU did not present a statistically significant influence over PS. The direct effects expected were found to be different in cities and towns, although differences were minimal. The study makes an outstanding contribution regarding the banking sector’s social responsibility, which may be further studied to mirror inclusive practices. It also corroborates the importance of PS as a mediator that influences online banking services use.