Abstract
Often financially excluded by the traditional banking system, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in many developing countries have found in mobile money services (MMS) a sustainable alternative. Despite its potential in propelling inclusive growth, the use and adoption of mobile money (MM) by SMEs has generally been low in developing countries, and one of the reasons has been limited data that supported its impact on financial performance. As a result, there was a need to investigate the impact of the mobile money payment and receipt services on the financial performance of the SMEs in Cameroon. This paper implemented a mixed research paradigm with data collected through the administration of a survey questionnaire and from one-on-one in-depth interviews. A sample of 285 SMEs responded to the survey, while 12 owners/managing directors were purposively selected to participate in the personal interviews. Version 25 of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to analyse the quantitative data, while the qualitative data was analysed along themes. The results were, after that, triangulated for credibility reasons. The concluding findings indicated that the mobile money payment and receipt services contributed of the order of 73% of the total variance in the turnover of the SMEs in Douala after they had begun to use the technology. By confirming the positive relationship between the use of mobile money services and the financial performance of businesses, it is hoped that all the relevant stakeholders will see this as a possible solution to the financial challenges that SMEs face in developing economies.
Highlights
Introduction and BackgroundSmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make significant contributions to driving the economies of a great many countries
Apart from the role which the system has played in increasing rates of financial inclusion, businesses which adopt mobile money services benefit from a wide range of different advantages and opportunities [21]
Despite the immense opportunities which mobile money services provide to users, groups of factors continue to militate against their universal adoption
Summary
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make significant contributions to driving the economies of a great many countries. The system enables the SMEs to receive payments directly from customers and to make payments directly to suppliers through mobile telephones [17], without being obliged to leave or close their premises for lengthy periods It provides a viable means for people or SMEs who do not have access to bank accounts to make financial transactions with ease, have access to funds when they are needed, without incurring additional charges such as transport and opportunity cost, and significantly improve the performance of their businesses as a consequence [18,19]. SMEs bank accounts are not cost-effective, owing to high bank charges and the transport costs which are incurred by travelling to banks to make transactions [10,23,24,25] These unwieldy procedures have contributed to the performance of many SMEs in Cameroon stagnating, with low economic growth being but one of a host of adverse consequences. Because of the boundaries of the study, suggestions for future research directions were pointed out
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