Journal of African Development

Digital technologies have revolutionized the banking sector across the world and India is not an exception to that. The use of digital banking services, however, in hilly and semi-urban regions like Uttarakhand has not yet been studied in detail. The aim of this paper is to identify determinants of consumer behaviour towards digital banking services in Uttarakhand in an empirical study with a hybrid theoretical framework of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2). The primary data was collected by using a structured questionnaire from 450 people in six districts of Uttarakhand. The data was analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) by Amos 24.0. The findings reveal that perceived usefulness (β = 0.391, p < 0.001), social influence (β = 0.312, p < 0.01), trust (β = 0.367, p < 0.001), and hedonic motivation (β = 0.261, p < 0.05) are significant predictors of consumers' intention to adopt digital banking services. Income level and digital literacy were determined to moderate performance expectancy. Other key challenges noted are security issues and insufficient connectivity in the hill districts. The study makes valuable theoretical contributions by bringing global technology adoption models to a geographically and culturally unique context for India, and delivers timely and relevant managerial insights for managers of banks, FinTech organisations, and policy makers who are aiming to create financial inclusivity in Uttarakhand.

Background: The current study draws on Digital Banking literature and draws on the theoretical frameworks of TAM and UTAUT2....