Consumers attitude towards Internet banking services in an underdeveloped country: A case of Pokhara, Nepal

The application of Internet technology has created enormous impact on banking sector with the implementation of many techno-oriented services like Internet banking, EFT, branchless banking, Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions etc. Study of customer's attitude in terms of trust, perceived risk and ease of use of a particular technology is as an important parameter for acceptance or rejection of a technology. To explore the customers'attitude for Internet banking this research is undertaken. The research is carried out in Pokhara valley which is the second largest city and tourism capital of Nepal. The study employs descriptive research design with stratified sampling procedure for eight top commercial banks. A set of 25 customers is taken from each selected 8 banks making a sample size of 200 respondents. A fixed set of question related to demographic factors is provided personally or by visiting the location of the customers of Internet banking service and collected accordingly. Reliability test is performed using Cronbach's alpha and data is analyzed using inferential statistics to present the results of the study. This study provides knowledge on the current scenario of Internet banking and helps banks in cost saving, mass customization, product innovation, improved marketing and communication. This study is very important for financial institutions like banks, government agencies and business houses to understand the perception of customers towards Internet banking and technology as a whole. The study also supplements the gap in literature on technology and banking in Nepal and serves as an important knowledge base.