Digitization Strategies on Performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya

Abstract

The study's overarching goal looked at the impact of Kenyan commercial banks' digitization policies on their performance. The financial industry has been undergoing technological advancements which effectively hinders their ability to cope with market forces which threaten their profitability and growth, financial inclusivity, competitiveness and survival. Kenyan commercial banks are in the process of executing various digitization strategies to enable them fight against increased competition and new market demands hence each individual bank has to provide services that meets these needs. The general objective of the study is to establish the effects of digitization strategies on performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The study provides an analysis and evaluation of the influence of education level on performance, influence of cost of services on performance, the influence of users’ age and gender on performance and to establish the effect of customers’ security concerns on performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The study also focused on the diffusion of innovation and assimilation theoretical framework and further incorporated a descriptive research design, with commercial banks in Kenya as the target population as well as used both primary. Stratified random sampling was adopted in the identification of respondents who then were approached to give information. The target a population of 390 was drawn from commercial banks in Nairobi City County, where a stratified random sample of 117 from the entire population was taken. Respondents provided primary data through standardized questionnaires. A pilot study on the employees of the commercial banks was done using drop and pick method for distributing questionnaires. Questionnaires were issued to the operational staff in the various branches ensuring that the respondents that may be limited by the organic structures were catered for to ensure validity of the research instruments. Additionally, questions in the Likert scale was used to cover a diversified scenario in the subject matter of this research project to ensure reliability of research instruments. The data was examined using descriptive statistics, and the connection between the independent variables of education, age, cost, and security concerns and the dependent variable of success assessed using linear regression analysis. For ease of comprehension, data was presented as frequency tables, bar graphs, and pie charts. According to the findings, cost and security concerns was an important factor with a substantial impact and positive influence on digitization strategies that influence performance of commercial banks in Kenya. Moreover, the findings revealed that education, age and gender of customers did not have a tremendous impact on the performance of Kenyan commercial banks though adoption of digitization. This was evident from the results showing that both male and female customers from all ages are well educated to understand the convenience of digital banking and prefer using digital platforms to transact. The study concluded that through digitization strategies, education, age, gender, cost and security concerns enhanced performance in Kenyan commercial banks. The research revealed that commercial banks, through their leadership, appreciate digitization strategies to boost performance through adoption of cost effective and secure platforms that target banking products targeting age and gender. The commercial banks should ensure that their digital platforms are well secured, cost effective and well marketed to their customers of all ages who clearly understand the importance of these platforms.