EFFECT OF MOBILE BANKING ON THE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF BANKING INSTITUTIONS IN KENYA

Abstract

The introduction of a myriad of Mobile Money Services (MMS) by various mobile money service providers to customers has become common. In the recent years, mobile banking has gained competitive advantage through diversification, maintaining customer loyalty. It has also assisted in increasing market share to grow their profitability and improve financial position. Mobile banking offers millions of people a potential solution in emerging markets that have access to a cell phone, yet remain excluded from the financial mainstream. It can make basic financial services more accessible by minimizing time and distance to the nearest retail bank branches as well as reducing the banks own overheads and transaction- related costs. Kenyan banking institutions have continued to use huge investments in mobile technology based on innovations and training of manpower to handle new technologies. The growing investment in mobile technology and bank financial performance in Kenya need various studies to establish whether mobile banking has contributed to the financial performance of banking institutions in Kenya. This study focused on mobile banking technology in relation to its effect on commercial banks’ financial performance indicators namely: Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE). The objective of this study focused on the effect of mobile banking on the financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The study reviewed theoretical literature guided mainly by the financial intermediation, innovation diffusion and balanced scorecard theories as well as existing empirical literature on the effects of mobile banking on the financial performance of banking institutions giving attention to the gaps in the research literature. The study applied descriptive research design. The target population included the 42 commercial banks operating in Kenya as at December 2014. The key study instruments used to collect primary data were questionnaires. The analysis of the quantitative data was limited to descriptive statistics while qualitative data was presented through narration. The study established that the number of mobile banking transactions has tremendously increased in the last five years since the introduction of M-banking. The study thus concludes that, banks that have adopted M-banking services have to a large extent increased their customer outreach, and hence have improved their financial performance. The findings revealed that many mobile banking products are being offered by banks such as Fund Transfer between Accounts/ E-funds transfer, Bill Payment, Free e-Statements and Account balance enquiry and therefore concluded that the financial performance of the banks that provide these mobile banking products has improved because they ensure efficiency of the banking services. The study also concluded that due to technological advancements in the area of telecommunications and information technology the banking industry has continued to revolutionize. The study established that perception M-banking has improved, hence increasing customer base, as well as the overall performance of the commercial banks.