PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES OF MOBILE BANKING IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Today, the advancement of mobile technologies has provided an opportunity for financial service providers in introducing new financial innovations. One of the emerging financial innovations introduced by financial providers is mobile banking or m-banking. This study evaluates the customer’s perspective of the adoption or introduction of m-banking in Nigeria. Questionnaires were administered to customers of banks to obtain their perspective on m-Banking. A sample of 100 students (customers) selected at random were employed for this study. The customer’s perception was found to be overwhelmingly positive. The most appreciated feature was ubiquity and the overview over bank account. Fast reaction to market developments often cited as one of the most attractive feature of mobile banking did not find high appreciation. Several factors including technical and security standards, regulatory and supervisory issues and business and legal issues were found to be the main factors that might hinder mobile banking implementation in Nigeria. Connectivity and secure communication platform and encrypted messaging system were found to be the factors that would enhance mobile banking implementation in Nigeria.