Internet Banking in Sweden: An Exploratory study on its Symbiotic Benefits : MBA thesis in marketing

Abstract: Purpose – The growing importance of use of Internet banking as another service delivery channel by banks to their customers lead to a number of supposition and deductions been made on the value creation of Internet banking and its extent of use. In the light of this, a profound and comprehensive study was conducted with the aim to first, determine the extent of use of Internet banking in Sweden, second, to validate the conjecture and the anecdote inferences that Internet banking provides values to both the bank and its customers. Design/Methodology/approach - To test the validity of the conjecture and the anecdote inferences made over the years, the author use data collected in two folds. One set was collected from financial institution “the big four banks” and the other set from 60 bank customers out of the 90 questionnaires administered. Findings - The results provide first, evidence of the high rate of adoption of Internet banking in Sweden, second, the values the banks and its customers have enjoyed since the advent of Internet banking. Research limitations/implications - Although this exploratory study approach may have validated the proposed model, further research into other cities is required to generalize these findings as this study has the limitation of using only Stockholm and the number of respondents used. Originality/value - The findings contribute and support several other studies that pointed to the fact that use of Internet banking channel of delivery is on the increase, and its value creation far exceed all other service delivery channels; provide critical implications for managers of financial institutions, Internet service providing firms, government and highlight directions for future research. Keywords Internet banking, Online banking, Service delivery channels, Technology-based, Enabled-service, Product-service Continuum