Influence of Mobile Led Financial Service Competitiveness on Financial Inclusion among Commercial Banks and Mobile Service Providers in Kenya

Abstract

The aim of this study was to establish the influence of mobile led financial services competitiveness on financial inclusion among commercial banks and mobile service providers in Kenya. The study sought to determine the influence of pricing of financial services, service investment, firm size and efficiency of financial services on financial inclusion in commercial banks and mobile service providers in Kenya. The study adopted a positivism philosophy and a descriptive research design. The target population was 852 heads of departments and assistant heads of departments in the 42 Commercial Banks in Kenya and 6 mobile financial services providers. Stratified random sampling was used to select 384 respondents from the target population. The study employed a questionnaire to collect primary data. Secondary data was also obtained from the annual reports of financial institutions as well as the mobile led financial services. The study generated quantitative data, which was coded and entered into Statistical Packages for Social Scientists (SPSS Version 22.0) and analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics included percentages, frequencies, mean and standard deviation. Inferential statistics such as Pearson correlation and regression analyses were performed to test the hypotheses of the study. The study found that pricing of mobile led financial services has a negative and significant effect on financial inclusion in commercial banks and mobile service providers in Kenya. The study also found that service investment has a positive and significant effect on financial inclusion in commercial banks and mobile service providers in Kenya. Further, the study found that firm size has a positive and significant effect on financial inclusion in commercial banks and mobile service providers in Kenya. In addition, the study found that efficiency of mobile led financial services has a positive and significant effect on financial inclusion in commercial banks and mobile service providers in Kenya. The study recommends that these institutions should continue investing in the establishment and maintenance of infrastructure supporting mobile led financial services. In addition, financial institutions should seek to increase their capital base by use of debts and selling of shares. This will help in financing the support of infrastructure related to mobile-led financial services. Also, commercial banks and mobile service providers should improve the efficiency of their mobile led financial services by reducing cycle time and response time as a way of increasing customer satisfaction and hence financial inclusion. On the regulatory challenges, there is need to include interfaces between different tiers of service providers (Banks and Mobile Operators), which in order to keep the public confidence in the system, the findings recommend certain level of clarity on who is who in terms of service delivery.