3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

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Start date: 2022End date: 2022Has files: YesSubject: search.filters.subject.Banking

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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Financial inclusion through WhatsApp banking in Johannesburg
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Miller, Jade Rowan; Balabanoff,Garth
    Approximately three billion people will use mobile banking by 2024. Mobile devices and widespread Internet access are helping to boost mobile banking's popularity. Retail banks can now offer their customers even more convenience with mobile banking applications like WhatsApp. Consumers and financial institutions have embraced advanced technologies, including mobile banking, in recent years. Social media, mobile banking and new ideas like WhatsApp banking have made it easier for people to do business. Mobile banking is now possible thanks to high smartphone penetration and technological advancements. The fourth industrial revolution will continue to exponentially transform the modern economy. Globalisation has forced banks to open new channels to remain competitive in today's market. Banks have had to cut costs and improve their financial position by introducing new products and services. Mobile banking has grown rapidly globally due to the rapid development of information technology. Due to multi-channel distribution, most banks now have a global presence with cross-border customers. A quantitative approach was taken to examine factors that may influence behavioural intention to use WhatsApp banking in the context of financial inclusion. A questionnaire was used as the primary data collection instrument. The survey was conducted using an online questionnaire distributed to people living in Johannesburg, South Africa. The study adds to the body of knowledge by identifying factors that influence WhatsApp banking adoption, particularly in developing countries. The Technology Acceptance Model by Davis (1985) was used to investigate behavioural intention to use WhatsApp banking. My findings show that perceived trust, banking inclusion, perceived usefulness and awareness all play a significant role in WhatsApp banking adoption. Managers in financial institutions should focus on increasing consumer trust across all age groups to increase customer comfort with non-traditional banking platforms in general and thus increase financial inclusion. This is crucial because ix WhatsApp banking has the potential to bank the unbanked and underbanked while also increasing financial inclusion.
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    Determinants of intrapreneurial performance within the banking industry in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Govender, Thanusha; Urban, B.
    The ability for large corporates to remain competitive and grow ahead of the market in an era that has been defined by globalisation, the fourth industrial revolution, and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic has become increasingly difficult. Therefore, it is a critical imperative for organisations to develop a new capability that equips them to navigate the turbulent global macro-economic environment and complex business markets successfully. Globally, banks have experienced severe pressure to transform their business models from capital intense businesses into revenue diversification drivers through new fee-based services. Investors are leaning towards new generation banking models that serve customers holistically, intuitively, and better by employing “new age” technology solutions, as profitability levels within global banks have slipped below the cost of shareholder equity. Coupled with the reality on the ground pre-2020, COVID-19 has become awatershed transformation moment for banks. It has accelerated many long-term banking trends that have resulted in customer shifts in relation to their needs, behaviours and expectations and has subsequently impacted their recovery performance. As such, African banks need to pivot their focus towards growth and relevance by ensuring the establishment of a fundamentally different business model that provides integrated digital ecosystem solutions that go beyond traditional banking, and offer to ensure market competitiveness. Corporate entrepreneurship is a strategic capability that enables organisations to embed innovation as a core competency and simultaneously engage in explorative and exploitative activities, which are essential thrusts in the strategic renewal of a company. This research study enriched the domain of corporate entrepreneurship by deepening the understanding of the mechanisms that underpin the corporate entrepreneurial embedment process, within a dynamic complex organisational setting. This was through the development of a core embedment capability model of corporate entrepreneurship that predicts the value drivers of corporate entrepreneurial performance and explores the contextual corporate entrepreneurship nuances attributed to banking corporations domiciled in Africa. This study importantly furthered contextual setting theory development and shed light over the heterogeneity of corporate entrepreneurship, which arose due to an idiosyncratic corporate entrepreneurship embedment process. This process consists of institutional path dependencies that resulted from gradations in the macro, meso, and micro layers. The model and theories emanating from this study not only aimed to bridge the research gap by exploring the dynamic complexity of corporate entrepreneurship, but also assessed the knowledge transfer of market intelligence into corporate entrepreneurial performance, and the significance of network ties in developing countries as an influencer of corporate entrepreneurial activity. In this research study, the levels of corporate entrepreneurship within the financial services sector of companies domiciled in South Africa were analysed to determine the quantum of influence that organisational, individual, and environmental antecedent factors have as predictors of corporate entrepreneurial performance. This was a precursor to crafting an embedment capability model that would enable financial services organisations to embed a corporate entrepreneurial ecosystem systematically, and enable effective and agile corporate entrepreneurial transformation. The research purpose was achieved by employing a three-prong approach. First, a configurational method was applied to existing literature to consolidate prevailing theories and to integrate existing models and frameworks as a basis of the proposed theoretical model. Second, the theoretical model was empirically tested using partial least squares structured equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to validate the model and to establish causal relational influence among the three different sets of antecedent variables. This would determine their quantum of impact on corporate entrepreneurial performance. Finally, an optimal configuration was proposed as a premise to describe and predict corporate entrepreneurial performance as a function of system thinking. The empirical evidence from this study validated that the most significant transformational driver of corporate entrepreneurial activity within incumbents remained organisational antecedents and entrepreneurial corporate strategy as the bedrock of a corporate entrepreneurial embedment ecosystem. Its singular effect on corporate entrepreneurial activity was circa five times larger than any other predictor within the corporate entrepreneurial embedment ecosystem. This was flanked equally by employee enablement of the corporate entrepreneurial strategy and the execution of the corporate entrepreneurial strategy. Employee enablement consisted of two supporting predictors, namely, the decisions and behaviours of transformation leaders, and the entrepreneurial cognitive horsepower of employees to develop initiatives and formulate strategic plans that enable the delivery of the corporate entrepreneurial strategy. Strategy execution encompassed two underpinning predictors, namely, the implementation of an organic organisational structure and the deployment of novel resource recipes to build new capabilities and adjacent capabilities to a firm’s core offering. Considering the nuances in the African operating environment, both macro level antecedents and network ties were deemed non-significant direct value drivers of corporate entrepreneurial performance within African banks.
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    Chat banking adoption by retail banking clients in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Ndamase, Simpiwe Dobela; Ruhode, Ephias
    Digital banking has been growing rapidly and many institutions are introducing different convenient option to process financial transactions. Retail banking clients have a number of banking channels offered by banks. Chat Banking is one of the ‘new’ channels in retail banking and is an effective and convenient way to conduct banking transactions. This study helps discover why clients are slow in adopting to Chat banking and also analyses customer behaviour in order to understand how banks can grow the channel and the clients perception to the channel. Research method used is qualitative and results were gathered using an online survey. 342 respondents replied to the survey which resulted in receiving great insight on the study. Insights highlight how clients use multiple channels and are more aligned to use one of the traditional digital channels rather than recently introduced channels like chat banking. Clients who completed the survey seem to be satisfied with mobile application. One important benefit about Chat Banking is that it uses low bandwidth which is cost effective for most South Africans, as a high percentage live in poverty. Respondents who completed the survey are not impacted by infrastructure and do not live in areas like townships or rural. Chat Banking will work best with the low LSM and unbanked market
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    Determinants of intrapreneurial performance within the banking industry in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Govender, Thanusha; B, Urban
    The ability for large corporates to remain competitive and grow ahead of the market in an era that has been defined by globalisation, the fourth industrial revolution, and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic has become increasingly difficult. Therefore, it is a critical imperative for organisations to develop a new capability that equips them to navigate the turbulent global macro-economic environment and complex business markets successfully. Globally, banks have experienced severe pressure to transform their business models from capital intense businesses into revenue diversification drivers through new fee-based services. Investors are leaning towards new generation banking models that serve customers holistically, intuitively, and better by employing “new age” technology solutions, as profitability levels within global banks have slipped below the cost of shareholder equity. Coupled with the reality on the ground pre-2020, COVID-19 has become a watershed transformation moment for banks. It has accelerated many long-term banking trends that have resulted in customer shifts in relation to their needs, behaviours and expectations and has subsequently impacted their recovery performance. As such, African banks need to pivot their focus towards growth and relevance by ensuring the establishment of a fundamentally different business model that provides integrated digital ecosystem solutions that go beyond traditional banking, and offer to ensure market competitiveness. Corporate entrepreneurship is a strategic capability that enables organisations to embed innovation as a core competency and simultaneously engage in explorative and exploitative activities, which are essential thrusts in the strategic renewal of a company
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    Transitioning to a Platform Business: A Resource-Based View Case Study of a South African Bank
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Ramrup, Kashil; Lee, Gregory
    Traditional incumbent banks have seen upstart digital-only banks and fintech, free of legacy systems, challenging their market share. In an effort to avoid disruption by fintechs, banks are embracing the platform strategy. Developing a platform makes it possible to interact with current communities and benefit from shared network effects that can hasten growth, save costs, and increase brand awareness. This research report investigates the impact on a large incumbent bank's resources transitioning to a platform business. A case study was completed on one of South Africa’s big five banks, focusing on the corporate and investment banking(CIB) division. The division is considered a thought leader around platforms within the bank and is actively engaged in shaping and driving its transitional journey. A qualitative study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with senior management and executive leadership. The study population comprised employees of the CIB division of Bank X, South Africa. The sample was selected based on seniority and exposure to the bank's platform business strategy formulation and implementation. The study found that, despite the bank intentions to pursue the platform strategy, there was an internal misalignment in precisely what it meant at the various levels within the organisation, compounded by the lack of platform and technical skills in multiple areas to support the transition. As CIB is a high-touch banking model, there was little understanding of how the physical network would be impacted or could be leveraged/integrated into the platform model. It also found that transitioning to a platform requires individuals with a platform thinking mindset, the ability to challenge the traditional linear pipeline business model, and an enabled and aligned culture with a new operating model that could blend the physical and digital worlds
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    The Impact of Technology in the Productivity of Corporate Banking: An Assessment of Emerging Markets
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Moyo, Nkosi
    This paper assesses the role of technology within the banking environment and seeks to find a correlation between increase in technological investment and the financial performance of banking institutions. This is achieved through a comparative analysis of six banks in two emerging markets to prove that an increase in technological output results in improved productivity and ultimately, financial performance for banks within emerging markets. The paper illustrates how technological advancements in the twenty first century have been contributed significantly to the financial performances of major banks in South Africa and Kenya, to an extent that technology is a quintessential contributor to the increasing success of financial institutions and that even through the advent of the Covid pandemic, the role of technology has increased significantly, to the extent that the relationship and impact between banking and technology is immeasurable
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    Consumer acceptance of fintech services in the South African banking sector: a COVID-19 context
    (2022-02) Magagula, Nothando Linnet
    This study explores the consumer acceptance of fintech services in the South African (SA) banking sector, focusing on the COVID-19 context. The conceptual framework used in the study is the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which considers factors such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and behavioural intentions and other adopted factors from previous literature such as Perceived Risk, Trust, User Innovativeness, Perception of COVID-19 and Fintech Acceptance. The research aims to understand the extent to which consumers are willing to adopt fintech services by identifying the relationship between behavioural intention and other factors influencing their decision-making process. The study draws on primary and secondary data sources to provide insights into consumer fintech acceptance and adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic in the South African banking sector. After conducting empirical research, a convenience sample of 156 South African banking customers participated by completing an online survey shared on various social media platforms. The data collected was analysed using Structural Equation Modelling in AMOS software. The main findings of this study reveal that behavioural intention has a positive relationship between these five factors, namely, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust, fintech acceptance and user Innovativeness; this suggests that these factors are significant in measuring consumer acceptance of fintech services in SA banking. However, the perception of COVID-19 and perceived risk were found to be insignificant measures based on the data collected. This study aimed to understand the consumer acceptance of fintech services in SA banking consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic however, it does have some limitations due to the method of collection used and the targeted population. The study concludes by offering recommendations for banks to enhance their offerings and increase consumer acceptance and adoption of fintech services.