Wits Business School (ETDs)

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    Assessing the role of Digital Technology in bridging the gender gap for women in South Africa’s Fintech industry
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Hassen, Zaahida; Magida, Ayanda
    Digital tech transforms finance and boosts inclusion. South Africa's fintech industry helps close gender gaps; research evaluates digital solutions to overcome barriers for women and promote progress in this evolving sector. Analysis shows how platforms and mobile banking improve inclusiveness for female empowerment towards financial equity across industries, including marginalised groups. This research aims to study how digital technology can reduce the gender gap in South Africa's fintech sector. The method used is quantitative, integrating the UTAUT framework and sampling 224 participants through a quota-based approach. Factors affecting women's acceptance of fintech are analyzed, including adoption levels, effort expectancy, social influence, enabling conditions, and behavioural intention for future trends among female professionals in the industry. The empirical analysis combined with experience-driven insights will enhance professional growth trajectories for underrepresented groups like females within larger organisational frameworks comprised mostly of elite bodies where access remains limited due to specific barriers hindering progressiveness. These efforts foster diversity, improve efficacy across value streams, and support the biodiversity agenda, increasing productivity when embraced rather than sidelined. South African women in fintech see digital tech as beneficial for financial inclusion and growth but face obstacles due to infrastructural and gender-specific work issues. Effort and social influence drive female utilisation of digital tech within the sector. Digital technology empowers South African fintech women for gender equality and economic growth. Suggestions include female-focused tech programs, inclusive regulatory policies, and collaborations between the government and private sector to promote diversity in fintech
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    Fintech as a driver for customer retention in the South African telecommunications industry
    (University of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Kalabamu, Erick
    This study explored the impact of financial technology (fintech) adoption by customers on customer retention in South Africa’s telecommunication industry. Telecommunications companies in South Africa have been at the forefront of bringing technological innovation into their processes at a very early stage. However, customer retention as a result of fintech adoption by customers is not clear. To retain customers in a competitive business environment, new products and services are usually employed. This study analysed the impact of fintech service adoption and telecommunication service adoption in retaining customers underpinned by the communication theory and UTAUT. Adoption was determined by the customer’s perceived values and usefulness of the services. Customer retention was determined by the customer’s intention to remain with the network provider and had no intention to switch to another network provider. A 33-item questionnaire was used to gather data from 130 telecommunication customers at Wits Business School (WBS). Correlation analysis, exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to analyse the data collected. This correlation analysis revealed that there is a positive correlation and a statistical significance (r = 0,515 and p-value < 0,01) between customer retention and fintech service adoption. In contrast, traditional telecommunication services, an essential part of telecommunication companies, have insufficient evidence to suggest a statistically significant relationship (p-value -0,040) and correlation (r = 0,181) with customer retention. The results of this study provide insights for telecommunication firms to develop and expand fintech services for their existing customers. Implementing financial technology services will confer additional iii value beyond the scope of traditional telecommunication services. Communication was also seen to have a positive impact on fintech adoption over telecommunication adoption, thus having a positive impact as an additional variable. As a result of these findings and efforts employed by telecommunication firms as seen in media reports, SMS campaigns, social media, advertisements, mergersand acquisitions of fintech start-ups, fintech service adoption by customers has an impact on customer retention.