Financial Apps Research Articles

Identifying barriers of financial app usage and their impact on negative emotions, customer ratings and recommendation intention: a text-mining based approach

PurposeLimited studies in the mobile payment segment have attempted at understanding the factors that resist customers from using financial apps or mobile payment services (MPSs). This study aims at identifying the barriers from online customer reviews and examine how these barriers affect customers’ negative emotions (anger, fear, sadness), customer ratings and recommendation intentions.Design/methodology/approachThis study, divided into three phases, has adopted a text-mining based mixed-method approach on 14,043 reviews present in Google PlayStore or App Store pages about financial apps used in India.FindingsPhase 1 identified barriers like, “bad user experience”, “UPI failure”, “trust issues”, “transaction delays” from the reviews. Phase 2 found that “bad user experience” and “UPI failure” trigger both “anger” and “sadness”. “Transaction delays” and “money lost in transaction” stimulate “fear”. From the IRT stance, in Phase 3 this study has found that barriers like, “transaction error”, “UPI failure” (usage), “bad user experience” (image) and “trust issues” (tradition) have a significant negative impact on both customer ratings and recommendation intention.Originality/valueThe current study contributes to the existing literature on MPSs by identifying barriers from user generated content. Additionally, this study has also examined the impact of the barriers on customers’ negative emotions and recommendation intention.

Keamanan siber sebagai fondasi pengembangan aplikasi keuangan mobile: Studi literatur mengenai cybercrime dan mitigasinya

This study examines the importance of cybersecurity in mobile financial applications, particularly in the face of rising cybercrime threats. The aim of this research is to provide deeper insights into the significance of cybersecurity in mobile financial apps and to develop approaches that financial companies can adopt to protect their users' data and information. The research employs a qualitative descriptive method using a systematic literature review (SLR) approach. Meta-synthesis analysis is applied to synthesize data from 26 journal articles published between 2019 and 2024. The findings reveal that cybercrime in the financial and FinTech industries is driven by internal factors such as weak security systems, lack of system updates, limited human resource competencies, and careless user behavior. External factors include malware attacks, unclear regulations, and the use of advanced technology. To counter these, it is necessary to implement technologies such as firewalls and blockchain, strong risk management, enhanced network infrastructure, the establishment of cybersecurity teams, the development of clear regulations, and user education to raise awareness and improve cybersecurity. Therefore, the implementation of a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy is crucial in maintaining the integrity and trust of users in mobile financial applications.

Extend UTAUT2 Model to Analyze User Behavior of China Construction Bank Mobile App

The outbreak of COVID-19 has been accelerating the digital transformation of financial institutions all over the world. Mobile banking APPs become an important channel to provide financial services in the Internet and Big Data era. Factors that restrict its development have attracted the close attention of scholars and practitioners around the world. Different from a general APP software, mobile banking APPs naturally have some financial attributes which set high requirements for personal privacy protection and other security issues. For this reason, this paper extends the original UTAUT2 model by incorporating a new constructor: perceived risks. The study carefully selects China Construction Bank’s mobile banking app (short as “the CCB APP”), as she is the biggest bank in China and has good novelty and representativeness in financial technology. This paper constructs an extended UTAUT2-based model using questionnaires and structural equation modeling the user behavior of CCB APP and tests the influencing factors of the proposed model through empirical analysis. Similar to other studies using the UTAUT2 model, the findings of this paper indicate that performance expectations, effort expectations, social influence, facilitators, and habits, all have a positive impact on CCB APP users’ intentions. Their intention to use was a mediating variable of user behavior, while facilitators directly influenced CCB users’ behavior. However, the study finds that perceived risk negatively affects the CCB users’ intention while hedonic motivation and price value do not significantly affect users’ decision-making process. Based on these findings, the misdirection should to be avoided in regard to financial APP development by financial institutions is discussed and the future research direction concerning mobile banking app adoption is illustrated.

Design Analysis to Enhance Financial Education for Student Entrepreneurs in University

Telkom University organizes an entrepreneurship program that serves entire students who want to start a business with a selection method to be incubated for one semester or more. Doing business for Student Entrepreneurship (SE) requires financial management expertise because it is very important to ensure that products are in line with expectations and efficient use of resources to maximize business profits. Financial skills are also important in running businesses. From that, the university holds learning finance management in the process of business incubation, but SE feels learning financial management is not interesting. Therefore, this research aims to discuss the needs of financial management for SE, lecturers, and universities with a qualitative approach through focus group discussion. The study's key findings are that SE needs to learn about financial statements. They also expect this to be done automatically on a digital basis that is easy to use, so entrepreneurial students can take advantage of the automatically generated data for proper decision-making and can focus on the creative and innovative aspects of the product. Financial apps for financial statements could potentially be made by digital software developers

The surveillance, gamification and datafication of children’s finance: a feature and tagline analysis of child finance apps

Purpose Children’s finances are increasingly digitised through the emergence and development of a range of finance applications, or apps, for managing chores, saving and spending. This paper aims to offer a preliminary scoping study of these child finance apps in the nascent consumer research area of children’s FinTech. Design/methodology/approach This paper undertakes a qualitative analysis of the design features and marketing taglines of child finance apps to explore their role in the digitisation of children’s financial literacy, consumer socialisation and economic agency. Findings The present analysis reveals five key design functions of child finance apps: chore management; child savings; payment and spending systems; parental control features; and banking and finance features. Furthermore, three key child consumer themes emerge from the analysis of these child finance apps: gamification of child household labour; surveillance of children’s consumer participation; and datafication of children’s financial lives. Originality/value To date, there is little research into the increasingly popular use of child chore, consumption and financial management apps, and thus a research gap or problem is that we do not yet have sufficient understanding of how finance apps operate through their design and marketing to influence the financial conditions of contemporary childhoods. This study is significant in bringing theories of surveillance, gamification and datafication from digital platform studies to the fields of childhood studies, children’s consumer research and child FinTech studies. The findings suggest that child finance apps use gamification features to encourage children’s financial learning, surveillance features to enable parenting care in children’s financial development and datafication to exploit children’s financial data within the finance industry. This study is clearly limited to the app environment, and so future work should investigate the use and perceptions of these apps in more detail using more situated social research methods with families and children.

Fintech Analysis of Personal Finance App Usage among Millennials

This study aims to analyse the influence of Fintech on the use of personal finance applications in the millennial generation. The research method used in this study is the survey method. The survey was conducted using a questionnaire distributed to millennial respondents who use personal finance applications. The data collected through the survey will be analysed quantitatively to identify usage trends, feature preferences, and the impact of personal finance apps on individual financial behaviour. The results show that millennials have a high adoption rate of personal finance apps. They tend to use these apps to track expenses, organise budgets, and conduct financial transactions. In-app personalisation features are highly valued by millennials, as it allows them to tailor the experience according to individual needs and preferences. However, data security and privacy remain key concerns in the use of personal finance apps. Personal finance apps have great potential in helping millennials manage their finances more effectively. However, serious attention should be paid to data security and user privacy. Therefore, it is recommended that personal finance app providers continue to improve their security systems and privacy practices. In addition, it is also necessary to educate users on the importance of protecting their personal information when using personal finance apps.

Investigating Personal Finance Apps and Competitor Landscape in India

The FinTech Industry has played a leading role in revolutionising our day-to-day lives for the past two decades. From digital wallets to online deliveries, FinTech has managed to seep into all our lives in as many ways as possible. The transformation brought by this industry has pushed us closer to a new era, its change rivalling that of the Industrial Age. Today, the numerous systems and technologies birthed by FinTech have come to play a crucial role in every facet of Finance and Economy. Along with its contribution to the global infrastructure, this industry has given rise to many niches which would have otherwise been impossible, one such being Personal Finance. Managing money has become all the more easier with the help of FinTech. Gone are the days when money was kept in physical envelopes each having a neat description for its use. Personal Finance applications have eradicated this hassle and made managing money much easier. These applications provide tools like expense trackers and net worth calculators all in one place, simplifying the whole process of money management for its users. The primary objective of this research is to study 20 personal finance apps available in India and identify any weaknesses or issues faced by these players. Through an in-depth analysis of these weaknesses, this paper attempts to explore potential solutions and areas of improvement for apps available in India.

Driving sustainable financial management: An investigation of factors influencing the use of digitals technologies by MSMEs

Following the rapid growth of technology, accounting information systems are also expanding. It is now possible to digitally generate financial reports or records that are part of an accounting information system using specific software. A financial accounting application can fully, rapidly, accurately, and comprehensively automate bookkeeping (Putri, Amrulloh, et al., 2023; Mahardhika, 2019). This study examines the impact of usefulness, ease of use, and compliance on the actual use of financial apps using a methodology based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Google Forms were utilized to conduct an online survey for data collection. The research sample consisted of 123 participants. The respondents are Indonesian micro, small, and medium-sized companies (MSMEs). This investigation employs a structural equation model (SEM). The study’s findings indicate that ease of use and compliance have a favourable and significant impact on the actual use of financial applications. In the meantime, usefulness benefits finances but is irrelevant to the application’s real use. Thus, it is possible to conclude that these findings help elevate the significance of MSME perspectives about using financial reports apps. In terms of applying financial reports applications, the research concludes with findings that can significantly influence and pave the path to a sustainable future.

The Influence of Economic Perception on the Adoption of App-based Financial Transactions: A Study Among the Young Population in India

Various sectors have been undergoing major changes due to digitalisation. Among these sectors, the finance sector is one which is largely affected due to online banking, cash to cashless, and so on, and digital finance instruments in India have witnessed a revolutionary change over the last decade. By financial instrument, we refer to the various digital financial apps which are used for online cashless transactions such as Paytm, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, PayZapp and so on. The primary emphasis of this research is on the wide range of digital financial instruments and their subsequent adoption in India, based on a survey conducted on 600 individuals (young) from July to October 2021. The study will offer brief discussions of the advantages of utilising these instruments, the challenges of using these instruments, other variables that are keeping individuals from using these apps, and so on. Questionnaire distribution and collection is the major data-gathering approach used to learn about people’s views on these financial products. Attitude, perception and social norms are briefly reviewed and analysed as they pertain to the individual’s decision and intention to utilise digital apps. Following the expected utility theory people are rational, and we find evidence that during economic crises economic entities behave differently and economic incentives may not often work if they have a strong negative perception of the economy. Our result strengthens these arguments, it reveals that economic perception considerably moderated the connection between perceived usefulness and mobile apps for money transactions (MAMT) use implying that economic perception strengthens the impact of the independent variable. On the other hand, the result shows that economic perception significantly weakens the impact of social influence on the usage of MAMT. However, the perceived economic crisis has no moderating impact on the relationship between perceived ease of use and usage of MAMT. This has something to do with innovation, and creating intrinsic product or service-based value addition that hardly changes with the economy’s perception—whether it is in crisis or a business-as-usual. The present study in the Indian context contrasts with most of the literature that concludes based on pre-COVID scenarios, and, thus, has wider business implications in the new-normal world. Mobile app developers now should emphasise factors while optimising and designing their pricing and promotional strategies.

Toward a cashless society: assessing the acceptance of Bahrain BenefitPay using TAM and SEM

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how the technology acceptance model (TAM) and structural equation modeling (SEM) might be used to assess customer acceptance of financial apps aiming at paving the road for enabling a cashless society in the Kingdom of Bahrain.Design/methodology/approachUsing a convenience sample of 600 users of the BenefitPay app in the Kingdom of Bahrain, this study used the quantitative research approach to obtain 427 usable responses. Following a descriptive study to establish a framework for the data and a subsequent inferential analysis using SEM with confirmatory factor analysis, the research hypotheses were tested.FindingsThe results of this study back up what is claimed in the TAM theory literature, which shows that banking customers in the Kingdom of Bahrain who use e-payment methods are more likely to use BenefitPay if it is both easy to use and useful. BenefitPay systems behavioral intention to use was also highly influenced by aspects like ease of use and usefulness, which enable the development of cashless societies.Research limitations/implicationsThis research work contribution is described through exploring how a cashless society is developed using electronic apps by studying the case of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Kingdom of Bahrain is unique, and hence the knowledge obtained from studying it cannot be applied mechanically to any other nation. Instead, the paper seeks to explain the motivations behind Bahrain’s move toward a cashless society, to analyze the difficulties and potential benefits of this transition and to spark much-needed conversations on how having less cash or none would affect the economies. Bahrain’s BenefitPay systems can be seen as a current pushing force toward cashless society; thus, understanding how people in the Kingdom of Bahrain adopt e-payment techniques is vital.Originality/valueThe TAM conceptual model is experimentally validated in this study using cutting-edge methods like SEM with value creation for banking sector management, making it stand out from similar research. This research may prove useful in laying the groundwork for a cashless society in the Kingdom of Bahrain by analyzing the key elements that affect the BenefitPay app.

The Use of Financial Apps: Privacy Paradox or Privacy Calculus?

The Use of Financial Apps: Privacy Paradox or Privacy Calculus?

THE MODERATOR EFFECT OF FINANCIAL APPS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FINANCIAL EDUCATION AND FINANCIAL CAPABILITY

This study aims to determine the effect of Socio-Demographic and Financial Education on Financial Capability with Financial Apps as the moderator variable. The research population is Generation Z aged 19-26 years. The research sample amounted to 100 respondents and data collection was done through the distribution of questionnaires via google form. The data analysis method used is Partial Least Square (PLS). In the industrial era 4.0, which is growing rapidly at this time, financial applications that are designed to help people manage finances have begun to appear. Digital financial management applications make people manage personal finances easily and practically. Financial management applications encourage people to further upgrade their knowledge about financial management to achieve financial goals in the future. The results showed that gender had a significant effect on financial capability and financial apps played a role in moderating the influence of gender on financial capability.

To Use or Not to Use: It Is a Question—An Empirical Study on the Adoption of Mobile Finance

Due to its important impact on sustainable development, mobile finance spreads fast. However, what factors and how these factors impact the adoption of mobile finance apps are still unknown. This research employs UTAUT and research on mobile banking and payment to explore the adoption of mobile finance apps. A total of 348 questionnaires were collected online and offline and analyzed by SEM. The results show that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, trust, and perceived risk affect the intention to use mobile finance. This study makes theoretical contributions by contextualizing UTAUT and considering the indigenized factors in China and offers practical implications for mobile finance operators.

An empirical examination of customer advocacy influenced by engagement behaviour and predispositions of FinTech customers in India.

Background: The extensive adoption and usage of emerging technologies furthered by the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, has reduced direct face to face communications. New FinTech (financial technology) apps and technologies are flooding the Indian digital payments market and competitors are striving hard to attract and retain their customers. Especially when customer engagement behaviours (CEBs) are digital in nature, it is essential to gauge the intrinsically driven customer motivations which drive a positive CEB. The objective of this paper was to empirically test the influence of customer-based antecedents such as emotions, moral identity, self-concept, communal focus, perceived cost and perceived benefits on non-transactional experiential customer engagement behaviours (CEBs) and CEB's effect on customer advocacy in the FinTech industry. Methods: Data from 380 financial app users in south India were gathered by administering a survey that captured customer predispositions, CEBs, and customer advocacy. Structural equation modelling (SEM) using smart PLS (partial least squares) 3.0 was applied to test the theoretical model. Results: Results indicate that CEB fully mediates the relationship between self-concept and customer advocacy. The positive CEBs get formed through customer predispositions leading to referral/advocacy behaviours. Conclusions: This paper provides directions for FinTech practitioners, marketers, technologists, and academicians to devise marketing strategies customized to customer needs and factors. This is one of the first research studies to demonstrate and empirically validate the CEB model for the FinTech industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An empirical examination of customer advocacy influenced by engagement behaviour and predispositions of FinTech customers in India

Background: The extensive adoption and usage of emerging technologies furthered by the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, has reduced direct face to face communications. New FinTech (financial technology) apps and technologies are flooding the Indian digital payments market and competitors are striving hard to attract and retain their customers. Especially when customer engagement behaviours (CEBs) are digital in nature, it is essential to gauge the intrinsically driven customer motivations which drive a positive CEB. The objective of this paper was to empirically test the influence of customer-based antecedents such as emotions, moral identity, self-concept, communal focus, perceived cost and perceived benefits on non-transactional experiential customer engagement behaviours (CEBs) and CEB’s effect on customer advocacy in the FinTech industry. Methods: Data from 380 financial app users in south India were gathered by administering a survey that captured customer predispositions, CEBs, and customer advocacy. Structural equation modelling (SEM) using smart PLS (partial least squares) 3.0 was applied to test the theoretical model. Results: Results indicate that CEB fully mediates the relationship between self-concept and customer advocacy. The positive CEBs get formed through customer predispositions leading to referral/advocacy behaviours. Conclusions: This paper provides directions for FinTech practitioners, marketers, technologists, and academicians to devise marketing strategies customized to customer needs and factors. This is one of the first research studies to demonstrate and empirically validate the CEB model for the FinTech industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An empirical examination of customer advocacy influenced by engagement behaviour and predispositions of FinTech customers in India

Background: The extensive adoption and usage of emerging technologies furthered by the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, has reduced direct face to face communications. New FinTech (financial technology) apps and technologies are flooding the Indian digital payments market and competitors are striving hard to attract and retain their customers. Especially when customer engagement behaviours (CEBs) are digital in nature, it is essential to gauge the intrinsically driven customer motivations which drive a positive CEB. The objective of this paper was to empirically test the influence of customer-based antecedents such as emotions, moral identity, self-concept, communal focus, perceived cost and perceived benefits on non-transactional experiential customer engagement behaviours (CEBs) and CEB's effect on customer advocacy in the FinTech industry. Methods: Data from 380 financial app users in south India were gathered by administering a survey that captured customer predispositions, CEBs, and customer advocacy. Structural equation modelling (SEM) using smart PLS (partial least squares) 3.0 was applied to test the theoretical model. Results: Results indicate that CEB fully mediates the relationship between self-concept and customer advocacy. The positive CEBs get formed through customer predispositions leading to referral/advocacy behaviours. Conclusions: This paper provides directions for FinTech practitioners, marketers, technologists, and academicians to devise marketing strategies customized to customer needs and factors. This is one of the first research studies to demonstrate and empirically validate the CEB model for the FinTech industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ranking of Financial Apps Using Fuzzy Ahp and Fuzzy Marcos: An Application of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (Mcdm) Techniques

Ranking of Financial Apps Using Fuzzy Ahp and Fuzzy Marcos: An Application of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (Mcdm) Techniques

Financial Literacy of legislators in Africa: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT Financial literacy is a catalyst to improve financial decisions and financial inclusion in the society. Existing studies demonstrate a growing research outputs on financial literacy in all facets of the society except the legislature, one of three principal branches of government. Despite the fact that the legislature is the law-making body of financial bills and regulations in the society, little is known about the level of financial literacy of the members of the legislature. This study aims to explore the financial literacy of the legislators in Africa. A survey aided in obtaining primary data from 87 legislators of the Pan-African Parliament in Africa. Data obtained were analysed using descriptive and the probit statistical techniques. The results reveal education, profession and income as the main factors influencing financial literacy of legislators. In addition, the results revealed an average level of knowledge on cash budget, savings and investment, retirement planning and bank accounts of legislators. The study recommends that legislators must enroll in current and relevant financial programs, and use more financial apps for their financial activities. As a first of its kind, the study makes significant contributions to further studies and public policy.

Terms and conditions apply: Critical issues for readability and jargon in mental health depression apps

BackgroundMental health services are turning to technology to ease the resource burden, but privacy policies are hard to understand potentially compromising consent for people with mental health problems. The FDA recommends a reading grade of 8. ObjectiveTo investigate and improve the accessibility and acceptability of mental health depression app privacy policies. MethodsA mixed methods study using quantitative and qualitative data to improve the accessibility of app privacy policies. Service users completed assessments and focus groups to provide information on ways to improve privacy policy accessibility, including identifying and rewording jargon. This was supplemented by comparisons of mental health depression apps with social media, music and finance apps using readability analyses and examining whether GDPR affected accessibility. ResultsService users provided a detailed framework for increasing accessibility that emphasised having critical information for consent. Quantitatively, most app privacy policies were too long and complicated for ensuring informed consent (mental health apps mean reading grade = 13.1 (SD = 2.44)). Their reading grades were no different to those for other services. Only 3 mental health apps had a grade 8 or less and 99% contained service user identified jargon. Mental health app privacy policies produced for GDPR weren't more readable and were longer. ConclusionsApps specifically aimed at people with mental health difficulties are not accessible and even those that fulfilled the FDA's recommendation for reading grade contained jargon words. Developers and designers can increase accessibility by following a few rules and should, before launching, check whether the privacy policy can be understood.

Personal finance apps and low‐income households

AbstractThe use of personal finance smartphone apps results in an improvement in various measures used to assess financial knowledge and skills, attitudes and motivations, and financially capable behaviors for those in low‐income households. Those provided with smartphone apps demonstrated increased self‐confidence in financial decision‐making and financial literacy and improved their ability to delay self‐gratification and their sense of being able to effect change. Financially capable behavior changes manifested in being better able to keep track of finances and manage unexpected bills. User engagement with finance apps could be improved by targeting users with a specific financial decision‐making problem, personalizing the apps through push notifications to encourage ongoing user engagement, and incorporating game mechanics.