Cashless preferences during the COVID-19 pandemic: investigating user intentions to continue UPI-based payment systems in India

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to examine the factors influencing user satisfaction with unified payment interface (UPI)-based payment systems during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The study also aimed to examine whether the user satisfaction with UPI-based payment systems during the COVID-19 pandemic will transform into their continuance intention post-COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach The study was performed in three phases, i.e. pre-testing (for developing questionnaire), pilot study (using exploratory factor analysis to ensure unidimensionality) and the main study. The main study was based on the feedback from a sample of 369 internet users who first used the UPI-based payment system during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data generated were analysed using the structural equation modelling approach. Findings The study findings suggest that the users who are satisfied with UPI-based transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to continue their use of this payment mode in future. Factors such as post-adoption perceived value, perceived usefulness and post-adoption perceived risk were observed to be key constructs in explaining user satisfaction and continued intention for UPI-based payment systems. Originality/value The study is one of the pioneering studies, in the sense that it investigated the continuance intention of UPI-based payment systems, which, surprisingly, did not gain much attention from past researchers.

Generation Z Cashless Preferences in the Post Covid-19 Pandemic Era: Identifying the Continuity of Digital Payment Usage

“…This model has been successfully applied in information technology to describe and predict sustainable use intentions. Several previous studies have succeeded in exploring the intention of continuity of use in various technologies, including e-payment (Kirmani et al, 2022), internet banking (Rahi et al, 2021), mobile banking (Siyal et al, 2019), e-wallets (Halim et al, 2021), online shopping (I. L. Wu et al, 2020), mobile internet (Jumaan et al, 2020), mobile apps (Tam et al, 2020), smart wearable devices (Park, 2020), online learning (Dai et al, 2020;Nikou, 2021;Wang et al, 2021), to health applications (Chiu et al, 2020).…”

“…Therefore, the user's preference to reuse a technology depends on the user's satisfaction with previous usage experience (Kirmani et al, 2022;Nikou, 2021).…”