Challenges, Benefits, and Adoption Dynamics of Mobile Banking at the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) in Africa: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Increased mobile penetration in Africa offers great potential to accelerate financial inclusion through increased adoption of mobile banking by people at the base of the pyramid (BOP) on the continent. This article provides results from a systematic review of existing research findings on the challenges, benefits and adoption dynamics of mobile banking at the BOP in Africa. The systematic review, which followed PRISMA (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses) guidelines, identifies the following key challenges for mobile banking diffusion at the BOP on the continent: poor mobile connectivity; lack of awareness of mobile banking services; illiteracy; poverty; lack of trust due to perceived security risks; legal and regulatory frameworks; and cultural factors. Based on analysis of these challenges, and of the benefits and adoption dynamics also identified, the article provides recommendations on how mobile banking services can be more sustainably implemented for the benefit of people at the BOP in Africa. Keywords mobile banking, financial inclusion, base of the pyramid (BOP), Africa; PRISMA (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses), challenges, benefits, adoption dynamics, technology acceptance model (TAM), unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT)

Financial Inclusion of the Elderly: Exploring the Role of Mobile Banking Adoption

“…On the contrary, Owusu et al (2020) found that consumers continue to queue at banks for small services such as checking account balance, which is accessible at ATMs or in mobile banking applications. The ease of use of mobile banking (Ntseme et al, 2016;Owusu et al, 2020) and the availability of information about the functionality and operability of mobile banking technology can increasingly direct motivation towards the adoption of mobile banking technology (Mcgaughey et al 2012;Pankomera & van Greunen, 2018).…”

“…According to Shankar and Jebarajakirthy (2020), mobile banking is an emerging technology, and many consumers lack awareness of mobile banking technology. This concern has been cited by several researchers (Laukkanen & Cruz, 2010;Halaweh, 2011;Mlitwa & Tshetsha, 2012;Pankomera & van Greunen, 2018;Choudrie et al, 2018). Even though the elderly would be happy with feature phones (Biljon & Renaud, 2016), they are willing to learn how to work with advanced technology (Švecová & Odlerová, 2018).…”

“…Studying the adoption of technology by the elderly has been a complex exercise to undertake, considering various factors. Existing technology adoption models such as the Technology Adoption Model (TAM) and its extended versions, Senior Technology Adoption Model (STAM) as well as the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) have been used to investigate the adoption of mobile banking (Lule et al, 2012;Shaikh & Karjaluoto, 2015;Albashrawi & Motiwalla, 2017;Pankomera & van Greunen, 2018). However, these models are not adequate for making conclusions about adoption behaviour among the elderly.…”

“…The following studies report security as a major issue hindering the adoption of mobile banking (Motwani, 2016;Chen et al, 2018;Pankomera & van Greunen, 2018;Wazid et al, 2019).…”

Adoption of Mobile Banking by Microentrepreneurs at the Bottom of the Pyramid

“…Thus, the need to design and distribute financial services microentrepreneurs at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) can afford, becomes relevant (Pankomera and Van Greunen, 2018). The BOP represents the economically weaker segment of the world's population with a daily per capita income of US$2 or less (Prahalad and Hammond, 2002).…”