CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF ADOPTING ALTERNATIVE CHANNEL BANKING FOR PRIVATE COMMERCIAL BANKS IN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

This study has taken one of the current issues in the Ethiopian banking industry: alternative channel banking. The objective of the study was to identify the challenges and opportunities of adopting electronic channel banking. The study was conducted on six private commercial banks. The banks were selected using stratified sampling technique. Data was collected by distributing questionnaire on a survey basis to the staff of the respected departments/divisions of the selected banks. Out of the distributed 92 questionnaires 87 of them were used in the study. The study used descriptive analysis to analyze the collected data. The results of the study showedthat; perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, the fact that the Ethiopian banking sector is adopting alternative channel banking late compared to developed countries and the fact that the 65 % of the population is between the age 15 and 54 (CSA, 2015) are opportunities for Ethiopian private commercial banks to adopt alternative channel banking.It is also concluded that lack of awareness of the society about alternative channel banking; the security risk associated with using alternative channel banking; the constant interruption of power; absence of network between commercial banks; the underdevelopment of the telecommunication infrastructure of the country and the level of illiteracy of the society are challenges of adopting alternative channel banking for the Ethiopian private commercial banks. Based on the findings commercial banks are recommended to create customer awareness; work with other commercial banks and government; enhance their infrastructure; develop customer customized system and associate motivating factors with the usage of alternative channel banking.