Factors affecting e-payment acceptance by customers: an empirical study in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Abstract

Purpose Consumers frequently use electronic payments (e-payment) as their first step into formal financial services. The advancement of information and communication technology, on the other hand, has resulted in several achievements for human civilization, altering people’s lives, behaviors and societal measures. This study’s main aim is to investigate issues and identify the factors that are likely to influence customers’ acceptance of implementing e-payment in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative research approach was adopted to test the influence of e-payment data security, trust, ease of use, usefulness and accessibility on customers’ acceptance of the service. A questionnaire survey was electronically administered to a purposive sample, and 531 responses were returned, achieving the required sample size for the study. Descriptive statistics analysis was used to ascertain data validity and consistency, and regression analysis was used to test the model’s hypotheses. Findings The findings of this study demonstrated a high influence of the mentioned factors on the e-payment acceptance of the customers in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The main recommendations are to increase the adoption of e-payment; focus highly on the security factor in e-payment adoption; create a trustworthy e-payment service; strive to make the e-payment services more user-friendly; increase the longevity of the e-payment services by focusing on usefulness; and make e-payment services more accessible. Originality/value This study’s potential contribution is to identify the factors that influence e-payment acceptance by customers in Bahrain and draw attention to issues to be considered in adopting new e-payment services.