Digital Financial Services (DFS) have the potential to benefit people in poverty in developing economies significantly. DFS provides a variety of economical, convenient, and secure financial services. However, the DFS adoption rate is slow in Ghana due to being over-reliant on personal cash delivery. Substantial variation in adoption levels across important socio-demographic characteristics is another factor. Using a representative national dataset from Ghana, this study explored digital financial services adoption determinants. It quantified the role played by each of the six incorporating factors and controlled four socio-demographic characteristics. The work also assessed the adoption level among key socio-demographic groups. The determinants of DFS are estimated using logit specification, and average marginal effects are computed. The logit model indicated that effort expectancy, awareness, facilitating conditions, transaction cost, security and privacy, and self-efficacy positively influence DFS adoption and increase DFS adoption by 0.7%, 2.3%, 28.5%, 3%, 2.1%, and 2.4%, respectively. Additionally, the results indicated a significant disparity in adoption levels across key socio-demographic variables, including education level, gender, urban and rural residence, and administrative regions of Ghana. Given the substantial influence of facilitating conditions and transaction costs on DFS adoption, we argue that it would be advisable to incorporate digital infrastructure development and lower transaction cost measures into the planning of any intervention.
Citation: Isaac Anane, and Fengying Nie (2022) Determinants Factors of Digital Financial Services Adoption and Usage Level: Empirical Evidence from Ghana, International Journal of Management Technology, Vol.9, No 1, pp. 26-47
Keywords: Adoption, Development, Ghana, digital economy, digital financial services
