Maina, George Samwel2024-09-162024-09-162023Maina, George Samwel . (2023). The Influence of Temperaments on the Adoption of Branchless Banking by SMMEs [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WireDSpace.https://hdl.handle.net/10539/40782https://hdl.handle.net/10539/40782A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in the field of Digital Business, Johannesburg 2023Recently, innovations driven by Financial Technologies (Fintechs) are posing challenges to the conventional financial service providers and might have a widespread and lasting impact on the financial sector. Branchless banking is a classic Fintech that offer financial services to individuals and corporates, especially Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). This study set out to investigate the influence of temperaments on adoption of branchless banking by SMMEs. The study’s main focus was to explore how temperaments of SMME owners influence adoption of branchless banking services. Secondly, to examine the factors which inhibit SMME owners from adopting branchless banking services as well as identify incentives for switching from conventional to branchless banks. To achieve these objectives, 12 SMME owners were interviewed. who were selected from a database provided by iSell, which is a company that deals in the residential, commercial, industrial and leisure property markets in South Africa (very active in Gauteng province). The results indicated that melancholy and phlegmatic temperaments influenced adoption of branchless banking among SMMEs. SMMEs of melancholy temperament were found to be willing to adopt branchless banking compared to their phlegmatic counterparts. The results also showed that the top inhibitors to adoption were preference to engage with physical customer service representatives, requirement of internet access, limited channels to cash out or deposit money and loyalty, trust and satisfaction in the conventional bank services. The results further indicated that lower bank charges were the most important incentive for SMMEs to switch from conventional to branchless banking. In view of the above findings, branchless banking service providers should tailor their marketing approaches to address potential customers who have different temperaments as well as address the identified inhibitors and incentivesen© 2023 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.FintechBranchless BankingPersonality TraitsTemperamentsUCTDSDG-8: Decent work and economic growthDissertationUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg