Mobile banking adoption among elderly Nigerians: Challenges and potentials

Abstract

This study investigated the problem of adoption of mobile banking by the elderly Nigerians. While mobile banking is convenient and accessible, and saves time, the aged persons face challenges due to their limited digital literacy, security concerns, and infrastructure problems. A survey of 300 elderly Nigerians found that 80% of them had never used mobile banking, and 20% knew what the technology was. The regression analysis indicates that there is a significant relationship between the level of digital education and the extent of mobile banking among elderly Nigerians at p<0.01. Perceived ease of use also gives a positive effect at p < 0.05, implying that if mobile banking platforms were made easy, more aged would use them. At the same time, security issues reduced the likelihood score by a large margin (p < 0.01), which underlines the importance of reassuring users' fears about fraud and losing their money. The key barriers are lack of familiarity, confidence in the use of mobiles in rural areas, and poor network coverage. Yet, there is a considerable space for development; although 60% of the respondents would be ready to use mobile banking if properly trained. The study concluded that improvement in digital literacy, reduction of complexity of mobile platforms, addressing security issues and strengthening infrastructure are deemed as possible ways of bringing about an increase in mobile banking adoption among elderly Nigerians.