CUSTOMER ATTITUDE AND INTENTION TOWARDS INTERNET BANKING: A CASE OF LICENSED COMMERCIAL BANKS IN COLOMBO DISTRICT, SRI LANKA1

Abstract

The banking industry in Sri Lanka has been rapidly developing and internet banking has become one of the most important and modern applications that is used as an efficient and viable tool to create customer value. The study investigates customer attitude and intension towards using Internet banking of six Licensed Commercial Banks (LCBs) in the Colombo district in Sri Lanka by employing quantitative research approach. A survey was undertaken by administering a self-structured questionnaire which was circulated to 20 customers from each bank, totaling to 120 respondents through a convenient sampling technique. The literature suggests that, there are four major factors that determine the attitude towards internet banking, namely, (i) perceived ease of use, (ii) perceived usefulness, (iii) perceived risk and (iv) subjective norms. The survey results show a strong positive influence from perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness factors on attitude towards Internet banking, and this reveals that customers search for easiness and usefulness when using Internet banking. In contrast, perceived risk and subjective norms have become unimportant factors in determining attitude towards Internet banking. The study also tests the association between attitude and intention to use Internet banking. The findings suggest that an insignificant negative relationship between customer attitude and intention. This revealed that the majority of the customers depend on traditional channels to carry out their banking operations despite positive attitude towards Internet banking.

Keywords: Customer Attitude, Customer Intention, Internet Banking, Licensed Commercial Banks