Browsing by Author "Aboke Emmanuel Eugene"

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    Digital Financial Services Adoption, Transaction Costs, and Financial Inclusion: A Case of Households in Masaka Distric
    (Makerere University Business School, 2022-01-11) Aboke Emmanuel Eugene
    The purpose of the study was to establish the effect of digital financial Services (DFSs) adoption and transaction costs (TCs) on financial inclusion (FI) of households (HHs) in Masaka District; therefore, establishing the extent to which DFSs adoption and TCs predict FI. This study was initiated because financial inclusion and DFSs adoption particularly mobile money adoption continue to be low despite initiatives by the government such as the launch of the national financial inclusion strategy and improvements in infrastructure to increase financial inclusion. The subject scope of the study focused on mobile money adoption and therefore generalizations were made as regards digital financial services adoption as an area of study. A cross-sectional research design was adopted for the study. Using a simple random sampling approach, a sample of 384 respondents was obtained from households in Masaka District. The research instrument was a self-administered questionnaire seeking responses on Digital financial services adoption, transaction costs, and financial inclusion. 365 filled questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 95%. The findings indicate that; DFSs adoption had a positive relationship with FI; DFSs adoption had a positive relationship with TCs; while TCs had a positive relationship with FI. TCs were found to partially mediate the relationship between DFSs adoption and FI as evidenced by the decrease in predictive power from 0.723 to 0.514. In light of the findings, various recommendations were put across on how financial service providers, governments, policymakers, and future researchers can benefit from the results of the study. The development of new products and services aimed at improving DFSs attributes, emphasis on TC (charges) reduction and service substitution to low-cost alternative products, emphasis on enhancing quality, removal of regulatory barriers that hinder the usage of the internet and mobile phones, and improvement in financial service processes. It is recommended that future researchers conduct detailed studies on theories of FI. The study data was collected in November and December 2020, a period immediately following the lockdown imposed to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemics. Due to the restrictions in movement and the advice by health experts to avoid handling cash, there was increased usage of digital financial services, especially mobile money. This implies that the responses could have been affected by the restrictions and the outcome could have been different in normal situations.