ELECTRONIC RETAIL PAYMENT SYSTEMS: USER ACCEPTABILITY AND PAYMENT PROBLEMS IN KUMASI

Abstract

The payment system in Kumasi has undergone considerable change as electronic payment has gained increasingly popularity, especially in the central business district.

Payment for goods and services in the Kumasi metropolis is characterized by long queues; long distance travelling coupled with vehicular traffic and time wasting that adversely affects business activities and ultimately economic development. Indeed, most people in Kumasi are now realizing the benefits of the technological advances made in banking services like networking of business branches, electronic transfers and use of automated teller machines. The few electronic payment mechanisms that are available are not being well patronized by bank’s customers and other users.

The purpose of the study is to assess the issue of user acceptance in the existing electronic retail payments and also to ascertain the impact in solving some of the problems in retail payment for goods and services in the Kumasi Metropolis.

This study used primary sources in a form of "consumer survey" questionnaire in obtaining the perceptions of bank customers (mostly individual customers) and interviews of bank’s staffs. With an extensive review of the available literature, data was collected from secondary sources such as the Internet, articles, databases, and books, and were analyzed and interpreted.

Our study shows that electronic payment systems have the potential to eliminate if not reduce the problems consumer face in the payment and settlement system.