The financial services sector is investing considerable sums of money into mobile banking services, but the uptake by customers has been low. The cost to benefit ratio of mobile banking is highly unsatisfactory when the costs of developing and managing the channel are considered. Many of the advantages of Internet banking are shared by mobile banking e.g. control and time saving. Mobile banking also offers higher convenience with the ability to carry out banking whenever and wherever you are. It is hoped that mobile banking can be as successful as Internet banking. A major factor in the low adoption of mobile banking is usability, and there is a need for research on the issues surrounding mobile banking as so far little has been conducted. This thesis seeks to investigate the usability issues surrounding Short Message Service (SMS) banking. It identifies three general functions of SMS in electronic banking: transactions, communication/CRM and security. Three empirical usability evaluations are presented that explored customers’ perceptions and attitudes of using these functions of SMS banking. The research presented here provides empirical evidence for the thesis that usability is a significant factor in the low customer adoption of SMS banking. It also shows that related to usability issues are customer concerns over the security of SMS as a banking channel. Older users will find SMS banking less usable than younger users and are more ambivalent regarding SMS in general. It recommends the most usable message input format to use in SMS banking and contributes insights on how best to realise the practical application of SMS banking and services. The findings from these studies will help improve usability in mobile banking services.

This thesis studies MERCOSUR Agreements in the area of banking services. The core issue of this study is to examine whether the present and potential benefits arising from MERCOSUR Agreements - as they have been designed and implemented - are worth the risks and difficulties underscored of the liberalisation and integration processes. For the proposed analysis, first of all a presentation is made of the context in whichMERCOSUR integration is inserted (Chapter I). This means the trends towards globalisation, internationalisation and liberalisation present today in Latin America's financial sector. In the second place (Chapter Il), the Asuncion Treaty and MERCOSUR complementary Protocols are described. Thirdly (Chapter Ill), the regulations and structures generated in the MERCOSUR in relation to banking services are presented. Chapter IV describes countries financial legislation and regulation. Subsequently (Chapter V Section 1), the obstacles to liberalisation and integration present today in the instruments, bodies and specific provisions regarding the banking sector in the MERCOSUR and in the internal legislation of its Party States, are gone into in depth. Finally, (Chapter V Section 2), an explanation is given of the impact of the Brazilian and Argentine economic crises since 1999 on the MERCOSUR integration process, in macroeconomic and unilateral trade measures. The author's principal conclusion is that the MERCOSUR framework has a positive potential and may contribute to the economic growth and wellbeing of the countries and societies it involves. For the further development and enhancement of its positive effects, MERCOSUR should avoid or at least mitigate the risks and difficulties involved in the opening up processes. The author suggests some concrete strategies for future negotiations in the context of MERCOSUR, FTAA, GATS or other liberalisation agreements involving Latin American countries.

In this study an empirical investigation is conducted of the factors affecting moral choice, a necessary antecedent to moral behaviour (or action). The theoretical framework has drawn upon Rest's (1983, 1986) model of moral behaviour, with particular interest in the components motivation and moral judgment. The theoretical framework also integrates agency theory, with its emphasis on the individual as a psychological egoist, as a perspective from which to test hypotheses about determinants of moral choice and the motivational typologies arising from moral choice. Such hypothesis testing is undertaken in the setting of the banking and financial services industry in the People's Republic of China.The development and empirical testing of a set of motivational typologies is a major focus of this study. Such a set of typologies effectively replaces the singular concept of the agent as a self-serving individual. It enables the identification of other realist moral predispositions that may strongly influence the choices business operatives make. These predispositions range from altruism to thinly disguised self-interest. An individual's predisposition to be altruistic or to display strongly disguised self-interest has long been recognized in the ethics literature, but these notions have received little attention in agency theory testing. In addition, an attempt was made to incorporate human judgment theory, including Simon's (1992) concept of "bounded rationality", as a basis for decision making as part of the proposed model.This research study has been conducted in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone of the People's Republic of China during the period 1999 to 2001 and has involved a sample of 400 business operatives employed within national state-owned banks, regional commercial banks, insurance companies and securities companies. Use has been made of a modified ++ / experimental design that involves operatives listening to a culturally adapted audiotaped business dilemma (involving an agency problem) and making moral responses that are recorded on an accompanying questionnaire. The latter has been designed to collect data used to construct motivational typologies. In addition, various personal and contextual data have been collected as part of the research agenda. Of particular interest has been the collection of personal data that permits the author to investigate the impact of both Chinese cultural values and the moral judgment ability of the respondents.After considering the literature pertinent to this study, a number of hypotheses have been developed and tested using the instruments referred to above. The results of these tests can be summarized into three parts.The first set of tests has involved the effects of various personal and organizational factors in the agency-based experiment. After confirming the veracity of the standard agency model as a predictor of moral choice, it was then found that differences in age, gender, employment status and religious affiliation act to significantly affect moral choice, whereas differences in business experience, and education level do not affect choice. The investigation has provided clear evidence that female operatives, within the age group of 26-30 years, who occupy clerical positions within the tested institutions, display a significant adversity to risk when making moral choices in situations that involve moral hazard, including the presence of adverse selection criteria.In comparison, the effects of size and type of institution have provided rather mixed results when tested as organizational factors influencing moral choice within an agency framework. A further analysis of the related data, however, points to other variables such as differences in ethical climate type and ++ / cultural orientation being significantly associated with moral choice. There is also some evidence that age acts to influence the extent to which business operatives apply traditional Chinese cultural orientations.The second part of the data analysis has involved the use of appropriate multivariate statistics in order to establish the existence of a mutually exclusive set of motivational typologies (involving concern for self and/or management within an agency context). The pattern of membership across the typologies does not change significantly when agency conditions altered. This outcome provides evidence that, in relation to the field experiment used in this study, respondents have used informational heuristics that are consistent and logically applied.Financial sector operatives, who identify with a particular typology, are found to respond to moral issues in specific ways. For example, altruists hold high moral positions regardless of the agency conditions facing them, while operatives adopting a thinly disguised form of egoism are likely to be less supportive of management. Further, the study demonstrates that operatives, who displayed strongly disguised egoism/enlightened self-interest positions in situations where an agency problem is not excessive, are likely to be replaced by psychological egoists when faced with a significant moral hazard and adverse selection criteria.Again, by applying multivariate statistical analysis, it has been possible to identify those personal and contextual factors that discriminate between the various typologies. Of the personal characteristics, the Chinese cultural value orientations, integration and human heartedness have been identified as relatively strong discriminators of motivational typology group membership regardless of the agency conditions. The role that traditional value orientations play as discriminators of group ++ / membership become even more significant for operatives aged 30 years and older.The discriminating influence of the contextual factors, namely elements of ethical work climate and job satisfaction, has been somewhat less definitive and has tended to depend on the nature of the agency conditions. The ethical work climate perception, instrumentalism is seen to display a significant influence on the way that the job satisfaction variables of pay and conditions, co-workers and work itself discriminate between the motivational typologies. However, these perceptions do not necessarily influence moral choice depending on the typology adopted by the financial operatives.The third part of the analysis has examined the direct influence of various personal and contextual factors on moral choice. A linear multiple regression analysis of data has revealed that certain factors affected moral choice depending on the nature of the agency conditions defined within the experimental design. The value orientation, integration, arises as a major predictor when adverse selection criteria is absent from the field experiment, whereas the contextual variables instrumentalism and employment status emerge when such conditions are present. In this study it appears evident that operatives expressing strong collectivist views are more likely to be supportive of management when agency conditions minimize the degree of personal conflict. Instrumentalism is identified as a widespread condition in the financial sector and influences moral choice when moral hazard, including adverse selection criteria, is present. Employment status, as a workplace demographic is found to be associated with adversity to risk, impelling junior employees to avoid supporting management in situations that might affect their employment or promotion prospects.The widely accepted component of moral behaviour, namely moral ++ / judgment ability, has been thoroughly tested within the terms of the hypotheses developed for this study. The variable did not emerge as a statistically significant factor influencing moral choice and its role as a discriminator of the motivational typologies was limited. However, its application within an oriental setting produced some interesting outcomes, including evidence that all stages of moral development exist amongst the respondents and that levels of principled reasoning (as identified by the standard p-score (Rest, 1983, 1986)) are on average lower than for equivalent tests conducted in western societies.This research study contributes significantly to the body of knowledge about morality of business agents employed in the financial sector and permits investigators to look beyond the simplistic assumptions associated with the classical principal-agency model. The study's originality as contained in the derivation of motivational typologies and the factors discriminating between them, provides a fresh stepping off point for further studies seeking to refine the understanding of moral choice in business organizations. The fact that the study was conducted in a rapidly developing sector of the People's Republic of China provided additional insights into how people in this environment view moral issues and how traditional cultural values impact on their thinking.

In this study, the Document Analysis Method is used to examine the ¡§Banking Services¡¨ in GATS from WTO documents and ¡§Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision¡¨ from Basel Committee firstly. Secondly, the reform and open policy on banking in Mainland China during past decades has been reviewed. Emphases are put on the reform policy on account of the process of becoming a membership of WTO. Following part of the study focuses on Shanghai banking development. The history and reform of shanghai banking is the major subject. Besides, whether the blueprint of Shanghai banking and financial center will be achieved or not is also reviewed. In the study we find that Shanghai has a blooming economy, the banking industry in Shanghai also situates a leading position in Mainland China. But there are also many difficulties for Shanghai to overcome if Shanghai heads to achieve the goal of being an International Financial Center (IFC) in the world.

This thesis answers calls for fine-grained studies of product diversification, in this case, predominantly using the resource based view of the firm. The context is UK providers of banking services. The thesis has developed the concept of resource matching. Resource matching combines levels of: resource heterogeneity, resource similarity and difference, and the external environmental setting of the organisation with the business performance of product diversification. Resource matching significantly increases the limited conceptual underpinning of diversification RBV by adapting and developing concepts from single firm RBV literature. Two new research strategies were developed to gather data on multiple resources and external factors. One was unused due to access issues during the credit crunch. The other, which was used, utilised multiple sources of publicly available information both qualitative and quantitative. These conceptual and methodological developments offer a way to restart the research on the impact of product diversification on business performance. This research has stalled due to conflicting results and methodological issues. Twenty nine providers of banking services in the UK where examined: building societies; other providers of retail banking services; providers of investment banking services; and combined banks which offer both investment and retail banking services. This thesis found: varying amounts of resource heterogeneity, resource bundles can be constructed from publicly available external data, performance in diversification does not adhere to the previously posited curvilinear pattern but to one of the greater the product diversification the greater the business performance risk and reward, with rewards being both positive and negative, and finally the external environment does vary within the industry. The results on product diversification performance suggest of a new way of looking at product diversification which might reconcile the previous conflicting results. A modified version of the conceptual model of resource matching was developed to take account of the results. Opportunities for further work include; studying other industries and providers of banking services in other countries, refining the single industry fine grained research methods and further developing the resource matching model.

With the establishment of the Financial Sector Charter, all the major banks are now 'committed' to provide banking f a c i l i t i es to anyone within a ten-kilometer radius of their home. Specific deadlines have been set, in which these banks will face huge penalties, if they have not achieved the agreed proposals. The justification for this study is to have a look at the feasibility of this charter in meeting the goals proposed without having a detrimental effect on the long-term profitability of Standard Bank. Making banking affordable to the previously unbanked sector is paramount to the success of bringing more people back into the financial mainstream. Mention must be made that banks with poor business models, reckless management practices and poor corporate governance do go out of business in South Africa and elsewhere. During this study, an in-depth literature review was done to analyze the causes of strategic failures in the South African financial services sector, as well as analyzing the strategies proposed by other leading financial institutions within the local and international financial services industry and comparing this to Standard Bank's strategy. The research technique is essentially qualitative, but will involve the collection of quantitative and qualitative data through the use of a questionnaire. This dissertation investigates what the big four banks in South Africa (with emphasis on Standard Bank) have achieved regarding opening up access to their saving and lending facilities to the unbanked, taking cognizance of the trends locally and internationally, finally leading to a conclusion as to the most appropriate strategy for the future. An investigation will be conducted into whether this financial institution should employ a prescriptive or emergent strategy approach in order to successfully compete in this sector. The different lending strategies, namely linkage banking, downscaling, and dedicated banks are analyzed with reference to the international experience. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

The contribution of this study based on the development of a cross-cultural universal framework, which is moderated by the culture dimension (uncertainty avoidance) and examines the factors influencing the individuals’ attitudes and behaviour and, ultimately, the individuals’ loyalty towards Internet banking across different countries (KSA and the UK). The study will contribute towards filling the gap in Internet banking literature by: 1) examining customers’ loyalty as a dependent variable of intention; 2) invariant acceptance of customers across the UK and KSA cultures; 3) and integration of the cultural dimension (i.e. uncertainty avoidance) and demographics (i.e. gender and experience) as factors of invariance across the groups. The framework is based on a number of constructs adopted from the validated theories in information systems (IS), psychology and marketing literature perspectives. Specifically from a psychology perspective, using Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) constructs, Attitude, Intention, Subjective Norms, Self-efficacy and Actual Behaviour (i.e. intention towards loyalty) were integrated. From a technological perspective, using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) constructs, Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use were integrated. Besides these constructs, the model also integrates constructs of privacy, security, communication, customers’ experience, Internet banking reputation, trust and loyalty from IS, as well as a marketing perspective. To examine the hypothetical relationships within the conceptual model, this study applied the positivist philosophical approach with quantitative methodology. Out of 1000 questionnaires distributed amongst undergraduate students in UK and KSA, 532 were useable, i.e. 53%. Due to the multilevel stages of the conceptual model, structural equation modelling (SEM), based on analysis of moment structure (AMOS), was applied to analyse the data. In addition, invariance analyses were applied to see the differences across the groups (i.e. moderation effect). Initially, sixteen hypotheses were developed in the model but due to the merger of three constructs (i.e. trust, security and privacy ) into one construct (i.e. trust), and the deletion of three constructs (i.e. communication, customers’ experience and Internet banking reputation) at the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) process, eleven hypotheses were finally retained for examination. The modification indices (MI) suggested three new paths, and hence, the addition of these new hypotheses brought the number up in total to fourteen hypotheses. The results suggest that the conceptualised model was able to fit with the data in both UK and KSA sample. Within the KSA sample, the model explained 45% variance in customer loyalty, but 60% in UK sample. From the path relationships perspectives, out of fourteen hypotheses ten were supported in the KSA and nine were supported in the UK. The results confirm the study’s argument that customer loyalty is the main construct of individuals’ behavioural intention to accept Internet banking. Within specific countries’ context, after behavioural intention, perceived ease of use was a more important predictor of loyalty in the KSA (i.e. b= 0.28); whereas perceived usefulness was a more important predictor of loyalty (i.e. b= 0.27) in the UK. Furthermore, it was noticed that subjective norm towards behavioural intention, perceived usefulness and ease of use was only significant in the KSA sample. The invariance analysis across the countries revealed significant differences between the KSA and the UK for nine hypotheses. Furthermore, invariance analysis also revealed significant differences across the cultural dimension of uncertainty avoidance (i.e. high and low), and the demographical variable of gender (i.e. male and female). Contrary to this, no difference was found for the demographic variable of experience (i.e. high and low). Based on these results, theoretical and practical implications are advised.

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of financial literacy on entrepreneurialgrowth in Southern Nigeria. To achieve this, a qualitative research approach was employed.Twelve respondents were interview, and primary data were generated for this study viasemi-structured interview. The information were transcribed by listening to the recordingsof the interviews, and were analysed using qualitative data analysis method by comparingthe findings of this study with that of other empirical studies. Amongst others, it was foundthat educated entrepreneurs have a high level of financial literacy, entrepreneurs with highfinancial literacy are able to use banking services and bookkeeping to the benefit of theirbusinesses, entrepreneur’s knowledge of banking services enhances the growth of thebusiness since he will be able to access credit products from the banks to expand hisbusiness, entrepreneur’s bookkeeping knowledge helps him to monitor the growth of hisbusiness, and most businesses whose entrepreneur lacks bank services and bookkeepingliteracy do not do well. Therefore, it was recommended that financial institutions shouldmake the keeping of accounting books mandatory for any entrepreneur or business thatwants to benefit of their credit facilities.

Internet banking services have faced a considerable expansion in terms of the number of users in the last few years. This makes Internet as a financial service delivery platform witness a number challenges. One of these is offering better-quality services to existing customers as the quality of service is a key factor in the success of any organisation. Previous research studies indicate that a strong theory to understand this form of service is lacking. A comprehensive review of previous and contemporary literature on service quality suggests the need for the development of a valid instrument for measuring service quality from the end-user perspective in the specific context of Internet banking services. This research study proposes a revised and modified SERVQUAL model which incorporates several variables that reflects the industry-specific attributes of Internet banking services. A survey based research is used to collect primary data on the basis of Internet banking services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A multiple regression analysis is employed to examine the influence of the adapted determinants on service quality. Focus-group interviews are also conducted as a follow-up to the questionnaire study. The findings of both fieldworks indicate that reliability, responsiveness, website design, and personalisation determine service quality in the Internet banking context. This study presents the main findings derived from the research model which can be used by a wide range of financial institutions, which make use of the Internet in their business dealings, to support each organisation’s decision-making processes. Also, this model can be used as a blueprint for an organisation’s strategic planning. In addition to the research model, the researcher employs Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) that reveals a large of number of implications for the quality of service, which were not obvious prior to undertaking the research. The knowledge of such implications will help managers and decision-makers when they are required to allocate resources to certain tasks or functions.

Este trabalho discute o mercado brasileiro de meios eletrônicos de pagamentos. O objetivo principal deste estudo é analisar os impactos causados pela evolução tecnológica do mercado brasileiro de meios de pagamentos eletrônicos, enfatizando a inovação e a ampliação dos serviços financeiros aos seus usuários. Para tanto, inicia com uma retrospectiva sobre as formas assumidas pela moeda, ao desempenhar uma de suas principais funções: ser um meio de troca ou de pagamento. A inovação é discutida a partir da revisão bibliográfica, que revisita desde autores renomados da teoria econômica, como Joseph Schumpeter, até publicações contemporâneas nas áreas de tecnologia da informação e de serviços. A caracterização do mercado de meios eletrônicos de pagamentos preocupa-se em evidenciar tanto aspectos quantitativos, que denotam o pujante crescimento deste mercado no Brasil e no mundo, como fatos que elucidam a interação deste segmento com a sociedade, em sua busca por maior bem-estar. O desenvolvimento da parte empírica conta com os dados sobre o uso do dispositivo mobile cedidos por uma instituição financeira. Os resultados provenientes da amostra verificada permitiram expandir a hipótese original, a saber, que o dispositivo mobile, além de ser considerado uma combinação inovadora, à luz da compreensão dos modelos e teorias abordados, é capaz de promover o melhor acesso e uso de serviços financeiros aos seus usuários. / This work deals with the Brazilian market for electronic payments. The aim of this study is to analyze the impacts of technological developments in the Brazilian market for electronic payments, emphasizing innovation and the expansion of financial services to its users. To accomplish that, it begins with a retrospective on the forms assumed by currency, to perform one of its main functions: to be a medium of exchange or of payments. Innovation is discussed by means of a brief literature review, revisiting from renowned authors of economic theory, like Joseph Schumpeter, to contemporary publications in the areas of technology information and services. The characterization of the market for mobile devices seeks to show both quantitative aspects that highlight the booming growth of this market in Brazil and the world, as well as facts elucidating the interaction of this segment with society, in their quest for greater well-being. The development of the empirical part includes the data obtained from a financial institution. The results from the sample verified allowed us to expand the original hypothesis that the mobile device, besides being an innovative gadget, in the light of understanding of the models and theories, is equally able to promote access and better use of financial services to its users.