Usage of E-Zwich Among Students in Developing Countries

Journal on Innovation and Sustainability RISUS, 2020

In 2008, the Government of Ghana (GoG) through the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GHIPSS) launched a smart card called e-zwich which formed a central part of the government’s plan to move the country towards a cashless economy. Modernization of the cash sector has remained at best in a confused state since it was launched and at worst an embarrassing drawback. In this article, we employ the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and the structural equation model to estimate users' behavioral intentions and actual usage of the cashless system. The structural results show that eleven out of the fourteen hypotheses are statistically significant, while the remaining three are statistically insignificant. The results also indicate that performance efficiency, effort efficiency, and social influence significantly influence the behavioral intentions of people to use the cashless system, and the age and gender of users signific...

American Journal of Business and Management, 2012

Introduced in Ghana in 2008, the e-ZWICH is Africa's first biometric electronic payment system. Though it was introduced four years ago to promote a cashless society, the level of awareness and patronage seem to be low and some have even predicted its failure in the near future. It is against this background that the study has been conducted to unravel the challenges and prospects associated with the e-ZWICH. The main task of this paper is to examine the challenges associated with the use of e-ZWICH in retail payments. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to fifty (50) e-ZWICH card bearers and thirty (30) non e-ZWICH card bearers. The Kendall's coefficient of concordance and the Kruskal Wallis test were employed to analyse data from respondents. The study revealed a number of challenges that are militating against the success of the e-ZWICH service. Among these are link failure, frequent breakdown of machines, slow process of service delivery, long queues and inaccessibility of the point of sale devices before and after banking hours. The findings show that despite these challenges, the prospects of the e-ZWICH payment system are great among both users and non-users. Based on the findings, it is recommended that sensitisation workshops should be organised by the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System to encourage Ghanaian companies and individuals and in particular the rural folks to patronise the service.

2015

The study investigated managerial and usage challenges associated with the e-zwich smartcard. It focused on four different population categories namely Bank of Ghana, Ghana Interbank Payment Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), Participating Commercial Banks and Users of the e-zwich system. The total sample size selected from these population categories was 102 users, five managers from five commercial banks, and two personnel from the Bank of Ghana/GhIPSS. Inadequate point of sale (POS) terminals was the most prevalent challenge confronting users of the e-zwich card. This was the view expressed by 27% of the respondents who used e-zwich cards. 13% of respondents held the view that complex processes for conducting payments was a challenge associated with use of the e-zwich cards. Other major challenges mentioned were: Lack of knowledge and skills in basic computing; lack of trust in non-cash payments and inadequate marketing (advertisement) campaigns. It was concluded that, significant prog...

There have been significant development of technological innovations in Ghana’s banking sector and financial services in general. The introduction of e-ZWICH in Ghana in 2008 came with so much euphoria as great news meant to move the country towards a cashless economy. Many Ghanaians signed on to the first biometric payment system – the e-ZWICH. After several years, the interest and patronage seem to have waned drastically. The study examines the effectiveness of that form of electronic payment system in the Tamale metropolis in Ghana. The study adopts questionnaire administration to ascertain the common types of e-payment systems, the level of adoption of e-ZWICH, and the factors affecting its effectiveness. This study reveals that there is low patronage of the e-ZWICH smart card due to frequent link failures, long queues in banking halls and limited point-of-sale devices. This has stalled the effective adoption and use of the system. The study recommends that the innovators and regulators introduce measures to renew the interest of stakeholders through sensitization workshops, making the point-of-sale devices more available and enhancing the smooth operation of the devices.

Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, 2015

There have been significant development of technological innovations in Ghana's banking sector and financial services in general. The introduction of e-ZWICH in Ghana in 2008 came with so much euphoria as great news meant to move the country towards a cashless economy. Many Ghanaians signed on to the first biometric payment system-the e-ZWICH. After several years, the interest and patronage seem to have waned drastically. The study examines the effectiveness of that form of electronic payment system in the Tamale metropolis in Ghana. The study adopts questionnaire administration to ascertain the common types of e-payment systems, the level of adoption of e-ZWICH, and the factors affecting its effectiveness. This study reveals that there is low patronage of the e-ZWICH smart card due to frequent link failures, long queues in banking halls and limited point-of-sale devices. This has stalled the effective adoption and use of the system. The study recommends that the innovators and regulators introduce measures to renew the interest of stakeholders through sensitization workshops, making the point-of-sale devices more available and enhancing the smooth operation of the devices.

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 2014

It is nearly a decade since the E-Zwich system was introduced in Ghana. In this paper, the researchers conducted a trend analysis to understand the system's patronage from a historical perspective. Annual industry data on eight (8) indicators of patronage of the E-Zwich system from the year of its introduction (2008) to the year 2014 were employed. Descriptive statistics and line graphs are used to analyse the data. Our analysis shows that subscriptions to the E-Zwich system increased steadily in terms of all indicators for the period under review, except that the number of cash deposits had an erratic fall for the period 2013/2014. We conclude that patronage for the system is considerable from a historical perspective.

As a pioneer biometric electronic payment system, the E-Zwich has witnessed minimal patronage over the past few years. Some scholars attribute this to the numerous challenges faced by users and operators of the product. Although several studies have sought the views of users of the above named product, the views of non-users have been ignored. A comparative study of users and non-users is useful for comprehensive decision making in the Banking Industry. The present study seeks to examine the challenges of electronic payment systems (E-Zwich) at GCB and further examines the extent to which users and non-users differ in terms of the identified challenges. Using a quantitative approach, questionnaires were issued to 120 users and 43 non-users. The study found that in terms of challenges, users and non-users share similar views using the independent samples t-test. The study recommends that GCB puts in place measures to improve E-Zwich services. The implications of the study are, thus, discussed.

International Journal of Data and Network Science, 2022

Nowadays, transactions on e-commerce platforms (e-payment) utilizing a credit card are popular. Using credit cards for electronic purchases over the Internet is much different from offline purchases in traditional stores; only online transactions do not include either physical credit card or a signature. The e-payment has become a common mode of payment for online transactions made. It is an electronic billing system that gives clients the ability to make payments using the Internet. The objective of this paper was to analyze the associations among continuance intention e-payment, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, performance expectancy, social influence, and actual usage of e-payment. The data was tested empirically on data collected from 667 Generation Z e-payment users in Malaysia. The results found that facilitating conditions, performance expectancy, and social influence impacted the actual usage of e-payment. Surprisingly, effort expectancy was not significantly asso...

European Business & Management, 2021

Ghana's banking sector and financial services, in general, have seen major significant technological. The implementation of e-ZWICH in Ghana in 2008 was welcomed with great enthusiasm as exciting news that would help the country transition to a cashless economy. Many Ghanaians signed up for the e-ZWICH, the first biometric payment system. After several years, it appears that interest and patronage have declined dramatically. The study investigated challenges and customer perception on E-zwich patronage in Rural Banks. The purpose of the study is to investigate the adoption and sustainability of E-Zwich service in Ghana. To achieve the purpose of the study a descriptive research design was adopted, using the quantitative approach and the administration of questionnaires to 349 respondents in the data collection process using convenience sampling. In this research, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was employed, whereas Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique us...