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Electronic banking in Finland:

Consumer beliefs and reactions

to a new delivery channelReceived (in revised form): 27th September, 2001

Heikki Karjaluotois an assistant professor at the University of Oulu. His main research interests cover electronic delivery channels in banking,

specifically Internet and mobile banking, consumer behaviour in an IT environment and Internet research in general.

Minna Mattilais a professor at the School of Business and Economics/Marketing at the University of Jyva skyla .

Tapio Pentois a professor at the School of Business and Economics/Marketing at the University of Jyva skyla .

Abstract The increasing turbulence in the financial service industry sector since the

mid-1990s has created a whole new delivery channel for banking: Internet banking. The

purpose of this paper is to describe the current state of Internet banking in Finland and

to study consumer perceptions, beliefs and reactions to electronic banking in general

and Internet banking in particular. The results of this study indicate that bank managers

can, by knowing the basic beliefs consumers hold about Internet banking, create more

effective customer communication, improve software and target prospects better

concerning Internet banking. There is wide agreement that Internet banking will on the

one hand have a great impact on the whole bank market, and on the other hand will be

considered the most important retail banking delivery channel in the near future. A totalof 3,000 questionnaires was prepared and sent to MeritaNordbanken customers in

Finland. Using a mailed questionnaire with a response rate of 38.9 per cent, it was found

that 40 per cent of the Finnish consumers who responded to this survey were already

using Internet banking services. The results of this study provide interesting additions to

knowledge of electronic banking and consumer behaviour.

Keywords Electronic banking, Internet, Finland, customers, consumer behaviour,

beliefs

DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNET

BANKING IN FINLAND

More than one-third of Finns use the

Internet every week and Finland is a world

leader in terms of electronic banking.

Almost 2.5 million Finns, that is 63 per

cent of those aged 1574, had access to the

Internet in 1998.1,2 More than half of the

Internet users reported using the Internet

daily. Over 0.5 million citizens made

electronic purchases on the Internet during

the last year. More than 40 per cent of all

Finnish households had a computer in

spring 1999 and 22 per cent had an Internet

connection, ie there were 107 Internet

Journal of Financial Services Marketing Vol. 6, 4, 346361 # Henry Stewart Publications 1363-0539 (2002)346

Heikki Karjaluoto

University of Oulu, Faculty ofEconomics and IndustrialManagement Marketing,P.O. Box 4600, FIN-90014Oulun yliopisto, Finland.Tel: +358 40 5361 636;Fax: +358 8 553 2906;E-mail:[email protected]

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understanding of consumer behaviour in

Internet banking and the results of this are

given. A discussion of the findings follows

in the final section of the paper.

ELECTRONIC BANKING

The motivation for this study came from

the rapid development of electronic

banking delivery channels in Finland. It

has been argued that the information

revolution will fundamentally change the

way banks and other financial institutions

operate. Most of the players in financial

markets have recognised the fact that

electronic banking is a major game and

everybody wants to be in it. The maindelivery channel for electronic banking

today is the Internet, and the growth of

electronic banking as a delivery channel

depends heavily on its development. A

Finnish Internet specialist estimates that by

the year 2003 there will be over a billion

Internet connections; over half of these via

a mobile phone.2

In the near future it will

be possible to manage all bank transactions

via a mobile phone; the meaning of time

and place is disappearing in banking. The

mobile phone penetration is around 25 per

cent across Europe as a whole and is likely

to exceed 100 per cent in some countries

by the year 2002. It has been estimated,

therefore, that computers are not

necessarily the best platform for the

delivery of all financial services.2,9

To date the Internet is mostly accessed

via personal computer, but as stated,

Internet technologies are developing at a

huge pace. From this point, mobility (ie

Internet access always and everywhere) is akey driving force of Internet technology.

The combination of the Internet and the

World Wide Web can be considered as

one of the most significant advances in

information technology. Electronic

banking is the newest delivery channel in

many developed countries and there is a

wide agreement that the new channel will

have a significant impact on bank

markets.1012

According to Nehmzow13

Internet banking offers traditional players

in the banking sector the opportunity to

add a low-cost distribution channel for

their numerous different services. In

addition, he continues that Internet

banking also creates a threat to banks

market share, because it neutralises so

many of the competitive advantages of

having a traditional bank branch network.

Electronic banking can be described in

many ways. In a very simple form, it means

provision of information or services by a

bank to its customers, via a computer,

television or mobile phone.10 Burr,14 for

example, describes it as an electronicconnection between bank and customer in

order to prepare, manage and control

financial transactions. Internet banking

involves consumers accessing their banks

and accounts to undertake banking

transactions. At an advanced level, Internet

banking is called transactional online

banking, because it involves provision of

facilities such as accessing accounts, funds

transfer and buying financial products or

services online.15 Electronic banking should

be viewed as a high-order construct

consisting of several distribution channels

and it should be noted that it is in fact a

larger platform than just banking via the

Internet. The following platforms can be

distinguished: (a) Internet banking, (b)

telephone banking, (c) TV-based banking,

(d) mobile phone banking, and (e) PC

banking. The two most common types used

in Finland are Internet banking and

telephone banking, but banks, other

financial institutions and telecommunicationcompanies predict an explosion of mobile

phone banking during the next few years.

Consumer beliefs about Internet

banking

The adoption of electronic banking has

been a burning issue for financial


Karjaluoto, Mattila and Pento

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institutions recently and the object of

various academic studies.10,11,1517

According to Athanassopuolos et al.,16

while price, speed and the banks

reputation seemed to be important criteria

for the adoption of electronic banking,

some weight was also placed on

knowledge of banking personnel and their

willingness to serve customers. Customers

tend to value convenience, increased choice

of access to the bank, and improved

control over the banking activities and

finances in electronic banking.10

She says

that banks have recognised that electronic

banking could reduce banking costs and

offer further competitive advantage.

Furthermore, consumers regardedaccessibility, functionality and service at

low price as important in Internet banking.

Jayawardhena and Foley11 maintain that

time, privacy, control and economy are

among important aspects with which

customers are concerned. Consumers are

becoming busier and hence are seeking to

carry out transactions at a time of their

convenience. Negative attitude towards the

security of Internet banking remains the

most important issue for banks. Security

concerns arise from the use of an open

network: customers are afraid that their

financial information might become an

open book to other people via the

Internet.10,1719 Karjaluoto and Mattila,20

however, argue that security concerns are

not among the greatest obstacles. Lack of

awareness of the service and benefits, usage

problems, security concerns, high costs,

resistance to change and lack of computer

access were found to be the main barriers

for the adoption of electronic banking byAustralian consumers.

15The development

of electronic banking will fundamentally

depend on how many people acquire and

retain Internet access.21

The most

important reason for adopting Internet-

based services is actually each individuals

attitude towards technology itself.22

In

general, it is more likely that people who

are familiar with computers and the

Internet will adopt Internet banking

services before people who are not familiar

with computers.23

The present study aims to describe the

adoption of electronic banking by

consumers in Finland. By studying the

beliefs of different types of consumers,

new valuable information concerning

electronic banking can be obtained. In

addition, studying the relationship between

perceptions of technology, demographic

variables and Internet banking behaviour,

provides a clarification of factors affecting,

for instance, the intention to recommend

Internet banking to other people.

METHODOLOGY

The data were collected by means of a

questionnaire that was mailed to 3,000

individual consumers in Finland. The data

were first divided into three different

groups labelled old users, new users and

non-users on the basis of their electronic

banking experience. A thousand

questionnaires were mailed to each group.

Old users had used Solo-services already in

the year 1997 and have used it since. The

second group new users began using

Solo-service after 1997. The last group

non-users was not using Solo-service in

1997 and does not use it now. Almost all

respondents were customers of

MeritaNordbanken. Questionnaires were

first posted at the beginning of June 2000,

and then remailed in July 2000. The

quantitative sample was targeted to match

the demographics of MeritaNordbanken

customers in Finland along dimensionssuch as gender, age, education level,

income and profession. Scales to measure

each of the beliefs were developed based

on previous literature and existing

scales.24,25 Measures of beliefs were based

on the suggestions of Fishbein and Ajzen.26

Three types of questionnaires were

prepared and sent. However, most of the

# Henry Stewart Publications 1363-0539 (2002) Vol. 6, 4, 346361 Journal of Financial Services Marketing 349

Electronic banking in Finland

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questions addressed were the same, but

questions varied little in terms of

experience about using the banking

service, expectations about the service, etc.

All questionnaires consisted of questions

about consumers demographic

characteristics, environmental questions

about their banking in general (eg the

distance from home to bank branch), bill

payment questions, and bill payment mode

(mobile phone, PC, ATM) etc.

Respondents were also asked detailed

questions about the use of the Internet in

banking, the factors affecting the choice of

banking mode, and their attitudes towards

technology, the Internet and Internet

banking. Every question on thequestionnaire focused directly or indirectly

on a specific issue and it was ensured that

questions were brief and clear. However,

some of the questions were found hard to

answer by study participants. While

designing the survey instrument, it was

ensured that instrumentation bias was

avoided. Multiple choice questions were

used. Details of the questionnaire are given

in the next section.

Questions concerning consumer beliefs

were implemented on a seven-point Likert

scale. Respondents were asked to complete

the seven-point scale on each question or

proposition indicating its importance in

defining their beliefs, attitudes and

intentions towards electronic banking (eg

3=not at all important, to 3=very

important). Results will be presented in

simple terms, which look at the effects of

the individual difference factors on beliefs.

At the end statistical tests were conducted

to determine if there is a significantrelationship between intention to

recommend Internet banking to others and

demographics.

RESULTS

After a follow-up, overall responses

received were 1,193, but 26 of these were

discarded as they were either blank, filled

out wrongly, or answered only one or

two questions. The authors were satisfied

with the response rate, which was finally

38.9 per cent. This was far beyond their

expectations and also a little above the

acceptable response rate by economic

science standards, which suggest a rate

between 20 and 30 to be normal and

acceptable. The remaining 1,167

questionnaires were used for data analysis.

Demographics of the participants are

shown in Table 1.

As explained earlier in this study,

questionnaires were sent to three different

target groups that differed in terms of

Internet banking knowledge and usagerate. The first group was called non-users;

they were not using electronic banking

services. Responses were received from

349 participants (response rate 34.9 per

cent). The second group consisted of new

users who had had the user ID and

password for less than three years; a

major proportion of the respondents of

this group was currently not using

electronic banking services. A total of 344

responses were received from this group

(response rate 34.4 per cent). The third

group consisted of long-standing users,

and as expected, this group was the most

eager to participate in the study.

Responses were received from a total of

474 participants (response rate 47.4 per

cent).

Non-user beliefs about electronic

banking

Only a small proportion of non-users hadtested Internet banking services (3.7 per

cent). The results suggest three important

factors influencing the first experiment:

possibility of paying bills at home

attempt to save money

attempt to save time and effort in bill

payment.



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It seems that non-users are also seeking cost

savings via the Internet, therefore Internet

banking is not considered expensive by

Finnish consumers. This finding is

interesting and was also asked in questions

concerning beliefs about Internet banking.

Questions about beliefs were implemented

on seven-point Likert scales ranging fromstrongly agree (3) to strongly disagree

(3). The results are presented in Figure 1.

As can be seen, the most remarkable

belief about electronic banking is that it

offers no personal service (mean 0.71). A

total of 40.9 per cent of the respondents

rated this belief into the category strongly

agree. However, the other end of the

seven-point scale also had some responses.

It seems that a large number of non-users

value and long for personal service in their

banking.

Internet banking was not considered

time consuming among non-users (mean

0.46). A total of 30.0 per cent rated this

to category strongly disagree. Internetbanking was neither regarded as expensive

nor incomprehensible. While 29.9 per cent

of the non-users rated expensive in the

category strongly disagree, only 20.7 per

cent rated it in the category strongly agree.

The mean score for expensive was 0.38.

Similarly, the mean score for

incomprehensible was 0.45. These

Table 1 Profile of respondents

Demographic Frequency Percentage V alid Cumulative

characteristics percentage percentage

Gender

Male 601 51.4 51.5 51.5

Female 565 48.3 48.5 100.0Missing 1 0.1Total 1167 100.0

Age

Under 34 years 128 11.0 11.0 11.035-49 years 459 39.3 39.4 50.350-64 years 369 31.6 31.6 82.065 years and over 210 18.0 18.0 100.0

Missing 1 0.1Total 1167 100.0

Household income

Less than FIM100,000 206 17.6 18.3 18.3100,001150,000 201 17.2 17.8 36.1

150,001225,000 231 19.7 20.5 56.5

More than 225,000 491 42.0 43.5 100.0Missing 38 3.5Total 1167 100.0

Marital status

Married 680 58.1 58.6 58.6Cohabitation 138 11.8 11.9 70.5Single 136 11.6 11.7 82.2Widow 70 6.0 6.0 88.2Divorced 137 11.7 11.8 100.0Missing 6 0.8Total 1167 100.0

Profession

Leading position 565 48.4 48.6 48.6Worker 237 20.3 20.4 69.0Not at work 361 30.9 31.0 100.0

Missing 4 0.3Total 1167 100.0



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findings suggest that non-users deem

Internet banking to be inexpensive and

service on the website comprehensible.

The next graph considering security of

Internet banking reveals interesting

findings. As can be seen, security concerns

were not deemed as important as expected,

and the literature suggested.15

Non-users

believed that Internet banking is quite

secure to use. The mean score for belief

that Internet banking is insecure and

untrustworthy was 0.31. While 26.4 per

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

Expensive

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

Time consuming

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

No personal service

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

Insecure

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

Incomprehensible

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

Only for nerds

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

Difficult to use

3 = Strongly disagree

3 = Strongly agree

Figure 1 Non-user beliefs about Internet banking



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cent strongly agreed, a total of 18.2 per

cent strongly disagreed. Standard deviation

was relatively low (2.23). It seems that

while some consumers are afraid of using

Internet banking due to security concerns,

others trust the security of the service.

Thereby, more in-depth investigation of

this crucial issue is needed.

Internet banking was not regarded as

only for computer nerds. A total of 42.9

per cent strongly disagreed with this

proposition. The mean score was 1.29

and standard deviation low (2.01). Finally,

non-users were asked whether they had

usage problems with computers and the

Internet. Difficulties in using computers

and the Internet seemed to be importantbarriers for Internet banking as the

literature suggests. It should be borne in

mind that most of the non-users do not

have access to the Internet. Therefore, the

Internet is considered hard to use and

access. A total of 37.1 per cent reported

major difficulties in using computers

(category strongly agree), which has a heavy

impact on the adoption of Internet

banking. However, almost 22 per cent

ranked usage problems in the category

strongly disagree. The mean score for

difficulties in usage was 0.39, which can be

considered relatively high. Standard

deviation was 2.45. The following sections

show new and old user beliefs about

Internet banking.

New user beliefs about electronic

banking

As mentioned earlier in this study, new

users consisted of consumers with requireduser ID and password for Internet

banking. However, it was also pointed out

that most of the consumers in this segment

were not using Internet banking services

regularly. This fact is worth remembering

while discussing new users.

Figure 2 shows that new users value free

from time and place most with the mean

score of 2.23. A total of 54.9 per cent

rated free from time and place as very

important. This score can be considered

very high. Also the standard deviation was

low (1.57). It seems that the possibility of

paying bills at home or at work is

extremely important for new users. The

second important belief new users hold

about Internet banking is that of time

saving (mean 1.65). While consumers are

becoming busier, it is important to have

fast and time-saving banking services. A

total amount of 48.6 per cent rated saves

time in the category strongly agree.

Similarly, Internet banking was rated

faster than other modes of payment (mean

1.29; s.d. 2.17). Almost 50 per centstrongly agreed. Furthermore, Internet

banking was not considered frivolous by

new users (mean 2.24; s.d. 1.45). 70.2 per

cent put it in the category strongly disagree.

This finding shows that banking in

general, and Internet banking in particular,

is not considered frivolous.

The belief that Internet banking offers

the opportunity not to meet bank

personnel and other customers was in the

category strongly disagree (61.7 per cent).

Thus, Internet banking is not used because

it allows the customer to isolate him or

herself from other people. In addition,

Internet banking was not regarded as

expensive (mean score 1.25). Specifically,

40.6 per cent rated this in the category

strongly disagree.

To summarise, these results indicate that

above all new users value speed and

freedom in Internet banking. Banking via

the Internet was considered neither

expensive nor frivolous.

Old user beliefs about electronic

banking

Old users were asked why they had

remained Internet banking users. Figure 3

shows that consumers appreciate being free

from time and place constraints with a mean



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score of 2.45. The standard deviation for

this factor was low at 1.16. Furthermore,

bill payment was considered to be faster

via the Internet than via other modes of

payment (eg at a branch or via ATMs).

The mean score for this was 2.36. A total

of 70.0 per cent of the respondents rated

speed as very important. Standard

deviation was very low at 0.98. In this

question consumers were very united, for

example only 1.8 per cent strongly

disagreed. Moreover, bill payment via the

3 = Strongly disagree3 = Strongly agree

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

Fast

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

Expensive

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

Frivolous

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

Free from time and place

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

No need to face personnel

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

Service same standard

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

3 2 1 0 1 2 3

Saves time

Figure 2 New user beliefs about Internet banking



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Internet was considered cheaper than other

modes of payments. A total of 46.1 per

cent rated it very important.

The belief that customer service in

Internet banking is always of the same

standard also had some importance (mean

score 0.80). No need to face banks

personnel or other customers (mean 2.10),

3 = Strongly disagree3 = Strongly agree

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Fast

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Cheap

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Frivolous

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Free from time and place

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Elegant and appreciated

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Service same standard

0 %

25 %

50 %

75 %

100 %

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

No need to face personnel

Figure 3 Old user beliefs about Internet banking



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appreciation and elegance of Internet bank

(mean 2.00), and playfulness (mean 2.09)

were all considered unimportant. These

findings are largely in line with the

previous findings among new users.

Playfulness was considered even lower

among new users than old ones (mean

2.24). To sum up, current users do not

see their banking as elegant, appreciated,

or playful. Consumers are using Internet

banking mostly due to time and money

savings.

As suggested in the literature, the

strength of consumers product beliefs is

affected by past experiences with the target

object.27 Beliefs about product attributes

or consequences tend to be stronger whenbased on actual use of the product.

Thereby these findings about beliefs are in

line with the past literature. It seems that

past experience has a relatively high effect

on beliefs that different customer groups

hold about Internet banking.

Consumer beliefs about technology in

general and Internet banking

This survey also asked about consumers

perception of different technologies.

Results are shown in Table 2. There are a

number of notable outcomes in the

frequency data. As can be seen, there are

significant differences between non-users,

new users and old users. As expected, users

had more positive beliefs about technology

than non-users did. Roughly speaking, the

more familiar a consumer is with

technology the more positive beliefs he or

she seems to hold about an object. As

revealed by the table, old users seem to

have more positive beliefs about

technology than new users and non-users.

To begin with mobile phones: old users

seem to have the most positive perception

(mean score 1.16), followed by new users

(mean score 0.77), and non-users (mean

score 0.19).

Consumers opinion of computer was

parallel: non-users mean score was 0.46,

new users 1.08 and old users 2.07.Further, old users liked bank and credit

cards (mean score 1.79), whereas non-users

did not find them so positive (mean 0.30).

ATMs were mostly disliked by non-users

(mean 0.37). Non-users (mean 0.90)

disliked e-mail and the Internet, whereas

users found them positive. Personal service

was found to be most important for non-

users (mean score 2.44). However, users

also placed weight on personal service.

The final three questions asked consumers

to rate teletext, automates in general and

electric ID cards. Surprisingly, non-users

liked teletext the most. Automates in

general and electronic ID cards were

mostly liked by old users.

Table 2 Technology perceptions

Consumer beliefs about Non-users New users Old users Total

different objects (3 to 3 ) Mean Mean Mean Mean N

Mobile phone 0.19 0.77 1.16 0.70 1043

Computer 0.46 1.08 2.07 1.17 1017Bank and credit cards 0.30 1.14 1.79 1.21 1065ATM* 0.37 0.59 0.13 0.14 1020E-mail 0.73 0.90 2.22 1.14 986Internet 1.13 0.89 2.16 1.02 981Personal service 2.44 1.95 1.55 1.91 1086Text television 1.15 1.12 0.90 1.03 1028Automates in general 0.31 0.38 0.59 0.30 1031Electronic ID card 0.60 0.03 0.97 0.31 902

Notes: *ATM = Automatic teller machineNo = Number of responsesDislike 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 Like



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To conclude, belief evaluation and

rating seem to be important factors

affecting Internet banking. As revealed by

Table 2, computer and Internet beliefs

have an impact on Internet banking usage.

To be more precise, a sum variable of two

variables from Table 2 was constructed.

These were computer perception and

Internet perception. Figure 4 depicts

perceptions of non-users, new users and

old users about this new variable

(technology perception).

As Figure 4 clearly reveals, consumers

perception of computers and the Internet

varies heavily between non-users, new users

and old users. Surprisingly, 24.1 per cent of

the non-users belong to the category like,24.8 to the category neutral. Thus, it may

be argued that not all non-users have

negative perceptions of computers and the

Internet as might have been assumed. As

expected, new users and especially old users

have more positive perceptions of

computers and the Internet in general.

Statistical tests, analysis and findings

Finally, chi-square tests were conducted to

determine the relationship between the

respondents who were willing to

recommend Internet banking to others and

three characteristics of non-users, new

users and old users. The analysis is shown

in Table 3. In general, chi-square is a

statistical test commonly used to compare

observed data with data expected to be

obtained according to a specific hypothesis.

Statistically significant p-values were found

among non-users between age and

intention to recommend (p=0.002), and

between profession and intention to

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

7080

90

Dislike Neutral Like Non-users

New users

Old users%

Figure 4 Computer technology perception

Table 3 Chi-square test: Intention to recommendInternet banking and demographics

Pearson df Sig

chi-square (2-sided)

value p value

Non-users

Marital status 1.970 3 0.579Age 26.772 9 0.002

Education 7.153 6 0.307Income 7.632 6 0.266Profession 17.635 6 0.007

New users

Marital status 5.750 3 0.124

Age 10.894 9 0.283Education 14.436 6 0.025Income 17.360 6 0.008Profession 12.636 6 0.049

Old users

Marital status 1.014 3 0.798

Age 11.669 9 0.233Education 0.255 6 1.000Income 3.525 6 0.741Profession 12.362 6 0.054



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recommend (p=0.007). It seems that the

younger and the better occupation the

non-user has, the more likely he or she is

to recommend. Another significant p-value

was found among new users between

income and intention to recommend. In

this category, new users with higher

incomes are more likely to recommend

Internet banking. No statistically

significant p-values (p50.05) were found

among old users.

In addition, correlations between

intention to recommend Internet banking

and demographic characteristics were

calculated using Spearmans rho. As the

reader might notice, different p-values

courtesy of different statisticalmeasurements are presented below.

Among non-users, intention to

recommend Internet banking is positively

correlated with education (r=0.141,

p50.05), and profession (r=0.187,

p50.01), and negatively with age (r=

0.234, p50.01). Among new users,

intention to recommend is positively

correlated with household income

(r=0.223, p50.01), education (r=0.111,

p50.05), and profession (r=0.168,

p50.01), and negatively correlated with

age (r=0.134, p50.05) and marital status

(r=0.133, p50.05). Among old users,

intention to recommend Internet banking

is negatively correlated with age (r=

0.112, p50.05). No other high correlation

was found among old users.

Interpretation of these results is as

follows. First of all, non-users intention to

recommend seems to depend on their

educational and occupational level. In

other words, the more educated and thebetter occupation they have, the more

likely they are to recommend. Secondly,

new users intention to recommend

depends on their income level, education

and occupation. Negative correlation (age

and marital status) is explained by the fact

that while age variable increases (ie a

person is older) intention to recommend

decreases. These findings were quite

predictable, because many studies have

reported correlation between positive

attitudes towards Internet banking and

education, income and profession.11

Finally, another chi-square test was

conducted to determine whether there was

a correlation between intention to

recommend Internet banking and

computer technology perception. As

stated, computer technology perception

refers on the one hand to consumers

perceptions of computers and on the other

hand to their perceptions of the Internet. It

is assumed that using this sum variable

more reliable results might be obtained

than just measuring perceptions on onesingle scale. The results (see Table 4)

illustrate a strong relationship between

computer technology perception and

intention to recommend. To begin with

non-users: high correlation was found

between computer technology perception

and intention to recommend (r=0.502

p50.01). This same trend seemed to

continue in the two other groups. High

correlation was also found among new

users (r=0.564, p50.01) and old users

(r=0.349, p50.01) between computer

technology perception and intention to

recommend.

To sum up, computer technology

perception seems to have a great impact

on intention to recommend Internet

banking to others. Therefore, the more

positive technology perceptions a

consumer has the more likely he or she is

to recommend Internet banking.

Interestingly, the highest correlation was

Table 4 Chi-square test: Intention to recommendInternet banking and technology perception

Pearson df Sig

Technology chi-square (2-sided)

perception value p value

Non-users 45.285 6 0.000New users 95.809 6 0.000Old users 60.746 6 0.000



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found among new users (r=0.56, p50.01),

and the lowest among old users (r=0.35,

p50.01).

In addition, these results are presented in

simple terms in Figure 5. X-axis displays

consumers technology perception (dislike,

neutral, like). Bar colours depict the degree

of recommendation ranging from not likely

to very likely. As Figure 5 clearly reveals,

dislike of computer technology is strongly

related to not likely to recommend andvice versa. For instance, over 60 per cent

of old users and almost 40 per cent of new

users belonging to the computer

technology category like reported very

likely recommendation. Additionally,

consumers belonging to the neutral

category were not eager to recommend

Internet banking to others. Non-users and

new users were not likely to recommend it

to other people.

DISCUSSION

The point of departure of the research

presented has been the description of

electronic banking in Finland and the

beliefs different consumer types, such as

non-users, new users and old users, hold

about electronic banking, especiallyInternet banking. This paper provided new

basic understanding of the adoption and

use of the Internet as a new electronic

delivery channel for the banking industry.

As mentioned at the beginning of this

study, electronic delivery is forecast to

become a major distribution channel for

retail banking over the next three to five

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Dislike Neutral Like

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

7080

90

100


Not likely

Not very likely

Quite likely

Very likely

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


%

%% Non-users New users

Old users

Figure 5 Technology perception: Intention to recommend Internet banking cross-tabulation



8/6/2019 jfsm346

15/16

years. In Finland, however, its role is

already significant.

The present survey was conducted in

Finland during the summer of 2000. It

showed that non-user beliefs about and

perceptions of technology and electronic

banking differed in some respects from

those of users. Non-users most important

belief about Internet banking was that it

provides no personal service but is quite

secure. According to the literature, security

has been a burning issue for the non-

adoption of Internet banking. The study

showed that security concerns are not

among the greatest obstacles to adoption.

New user beliefs about Internet banking

were that it lowers banking expenses, savestime and is free from constraints of time

and place. Old users found Internet

banking faster than other modes of

payment, cheaper, free from constraints of

time and place, and they also appreciated

the consistent standard of service.

Furthermore, the survey results suggest

that current users hold more positive

beliefs about technology in general. This

seems to have an impact on attitudes and

behaviour towards Internet banking.

Specifically, the results indicate that prior

experience has an impact on beliefs about

different technologies.

It should be noted that this study

examined Internet banking only from a

consumer perspective and was limited to

Finland. This paper provides only small

insights into electronic banking and the

study was limited to consideration of only

some questions from the whole

questionnaire. In addition, the findings of

this study are restricted to comparison ofdifferent consumer segments. Future

research will be needed, and one such area

could concern the relationship between

belief, attitude, intention and behaviour.

Another area of research could be

comparisons across countries. The fact that

Finland is said to be one of the leading

countries in the field of Internet banking,

and MeritaNordbanken the number one in

the world in this area might have had an

effect on the current research findings. In

summary, the Finnish consumer holds

relatively positive beliefs about electronic

banking, in contrast, for example, to the

UK.10

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to thank all the

individuals who participated in the survey.

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