E-business adoption in the banking industry in Ghana

Abstract: This thesis is based on a case study of four banks, in Ghana: two private
and two state banks. The study only sought to examine the adoption of e-
Business in the Ghanaian banking industry with respect to the expected
benefits derived by adopting e-business, the barriers that prevent firms
from taking advantage of e-business adoption and the challenges firms
encounter when adopting e-business. The study idea was conceived on the
premise that businesses are always looking for ways of improving their
products and services deliveries and will thus be useful to understand how
the adoption of e- Business can benefit the banking industries in Ghana
that is seen to be in the fore-front of national development. The
researchers also wanted to understand how electronic commerce as a new way
of doing business can be introduced effectively in the Ghanaian banking
business especially with the understanding that E-business involves the
fundamental reengineering of business model into a internet based networked
enterprise.

The result of the study indicated that the benefits of e-business are well
known to the banks and represent a formidable force to drive the adoption
by many banks in Ghana. The benefits of e-business are experienced whether
or not the bank is state or private. The various areas where the
banks are preparing to use e-business approach includes familiar and
relatively mature electronically-based products in developing markets, such
as telephone banking, credit cards, ATMs, and direct deposit. This means
that most of the banks have recognized the need to change their business
process to conform to changing business trends in order to keep up with
competition. Despite the perceived and experienced benefits of e-business
in Ghanaian banking, they also identified

several barriers and challenges that could be described as: economic:
technical and technological: ethical and institutional: and socio-cultural.
The results also revealed that the banks consider technology as the most
important challenge to the effective adoption of e-service in the banking
industry in Ghana. The study provides some recommendations towards
improving e-business adoption in Ghanaian banks.