Mobile wallets in cash-based economies during COVID-19
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-01-2022-0029 |
| Published date | 16 August 2022 |
| Date | 16 August 2022 |
| Pages | 653-671 |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Data management systems,Knowledge management,Knowledge sharing,Management science & operations,Supply chain management,Supply chain information systems,Logistics,Quality management/systems |
| Author | Chinedu Wilfred Okonkwo,Lateef Babatunde Amusa,Hossana Twinomurinzi,Samuel Fosso Wamba |
Mobile wallets in cash-based
economies during COVID-19
Chinedu Wilfred Okonkwo, Lateef Babatunde Amusa and
Hossana Twinomurinzi
Centre for Applied Data Science, University of Johannesburg,
Johannesburg, South Africa, and
Samuel Fosso Wamba
Toulouse Business School, Midi-Pyr
en
ees, France
Abstract
Purpose –Thecoronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemicaltered business andpersonal activitiesglobally
especially stimulating contactless financial transactions. However, despite the similar national lockdowns in
cash-basedeconomies, the adoptionof contactless transactionsthrough the widely available mechanism,mobile
wallets, remainedlow. This research aimed to identify thefactors surrounding this peculiarity.
Design/methodology/approach –The study was investigated using a composite model based on the
diffusion of innovation theory (DIT), technology acceptance model (TAM) and information systems success
model (ISSM). Data were collected from 621 Cameroonian mobile wallet users and analyzed using partial least
squares structural equation (PLS-SEM) modeling.
Findings –The key findings revealed that the usage of mobile wallets, in the current form, were not affected
by the perceived ease of use and did not match the existing lifestyle of users in Cameroon (no compatibility).
The branding of mobile wallets (image) which was based on global messaging did not appeal to Cameroonians;
in fact, the branding gave mobile wallets a negative image.
Originality/value –These key findings reveal the dangers of assuming that global strategies which have
been effective in dealing with the pandemic will be effective in low-income or cash-based economies. The
findings suggest that considering essential contextual dispositions is critical.
Keywords Mobile wallets, Adoption, COVID-19, Cash-based economies
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries, especially low-income countries, had
traditional cash-based economies where cash was the preferred means of financial
transactions for retail services. However, the introduction across the globe of COVID-19
counter measures such as lockdowns and movement restrictions disrupted many business
activities (Guthrie et al., 2021). As a result, many countries, including low-income countries
with cash-based economies, were forced to adopt cashless and digital mechanisms such as
mobile wallets to execute financial transactions (Yang et al., 2015;Wu et al., 2017;Alswaigh
and Aloud, 2021).
A mobile wallet is an application that is downloaded to a mobile device or an existing built-
in feature of a smartphone to make contactless payments (Mew and Millan, 2021). The built-in
feature of the smartphone allows consumers to store debit cards, credit cards, or reward card
information to facilitate the payment transaction. Typically, the installed software is set up
Mobile wallets
during
COVID-19
653
© Chinedu Wilfred Okonkwo, Lateef Babatunde Amusa, Hossana Twinomurinzi and Samuel Fosso
Wamba. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative
Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create
derivative works of this article (for both commercial and no commercial purposes), subject to full
attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://
creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0263-5577.htm
Received 24 January 2022
Revised 1 April 2022
29 April 2022
13 May 2022
Accepted 20 May 2022
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 123 No. 2, 2023
pp. 653-671
Emerald Publishing Limited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-01-2022-0029
by inputting the user’s card payment information, which is connected to a personal identity
format such as a number, quick response (QR) code, or the owner’s image, and stored in the
wallet.
Mobile wallets allow quick, convenient, and timesaving in-store payments as opposed to
paying with cash or carrying physical credit cards (Mombeuil, 2020;Mew and Millan, 2021).
The mobile wallet program employs a technology known as near-field communication (NFC)
(Leong et al., 2013,2020), which enables communication between devices through radio
waves. The NFC communicates payment data with the dealer’s point-of-service (POS)
terminal using the personal identity format developed for the user (Leong et al., 2020).
Information is transmitted when the user passes an NFC-activated smartphone over the
store’s NFC scanner.
Mobile wallets allow various transactions to be performed, including online purchases,
utility payments, mon ey transfers, automat ed and timely payments, and expenses
management (Iman, 2018). Mobile wallets are growing in popularity among the general
public, with 4 billion users and a market size of $7,580.1 billion predicted by 2024 and 2027,
respectively (Sneha et al., 2020). Mobile wallets rank among the quickest developing areas
regarding future mobile technology payment methods owing to their convenience, ease of
use, security, and fast service delivery. The mobile wallet innovation is beneficial to
businesses because it is used to make cashless payment transactions, thus providing
financial institutions with another source of income (Mew and Millan, 2021). The adoption of
mobile wallets by consumers varies significantly across markets. While China leads the way
with 87% of mobile wallet usage, countries such as the United Kingdom (75%) and the United
States (66%) are close behind (Statistica, 2021). The adoption and use of mobile wallet
innovation in Africa is still in infancy (Matemba and Li, 2018).
The development of mobile wallets applications has increased in recent years, notably
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several studies have investigated user intentions and
perspectives; however, few, if any, have been undertaken in cash-based economies. This
paper sought to understand the factors that influenced cash-based economies to adopt mobile
wallets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, some studies suggested some
critical inhibitors of mobile wallet adoption such as anxiety, awareness, risk, technology
skills, and complexity (Sharma et al., 2018;Zamani and Giaglis, 2018;Leong et al., 2021).
Similarly, key factors that influence the adoption of mobile were also highlighted, namely
relative convenience, privacy, security, and relative advantage (Mombeuil, 2020). Al-Saedi
et al. (2019) posited that more studies are needed to investigate other factors impacting mobile
payment acceptance. Factors influencing mobile payment acceptance in different contexts
have been reported in the literature. However, studies on enablers and inhibitors of mobile
wallet adoption in the low-income and cash-based economies context are limited. To this end,
this study aimed to answer the following research question: What factors influenced mobile
wallet adoption in cash-based economies during COVID-19?
To answer the research question, we derived a composite model with eight components
from three adoption theories, namely the diffusion of innovations theory (DIT):
(compatibility, image, and relative advantage) (Rogers, 2003), technology acceptance model
(TAM): perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness) (Davis, 1989), and information system
success model (ISSM): information quality, system quality, and service quality) (Delone and
Mclean, 1992). The composite model was applied to investigate the adoption of mobile wallets
in the Republic of Cameroon, an African country with a cash-based economy. Cameroon is
generalizable to many other similar cash-based economies.
Given the adoption of mobile wallets by countries with cash-based economies, this study
will make the following contributions:
IMDS
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