The Exclusion of People with Visual Disabilities from Digital Banking Services in the Digitalization Era

Ahmed HASSAN1, Rasha ABD EL-AZIZ2 and Meer HAMZA3

1,2Business Information Systems Department, College of Management and Technology, Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport, Alexandria, Egypt

3Graduate School of Business, Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport, Alexandria, Egypt

Academic Editor: D. F. Rateb

Cite this Article as:

Ahmed HASSAN, Rasha ABD EL-AZIZ and Meer HAMZA (2020), “The Exclusion of People with Visual Disabilities from Digital Banking Services in the Digitalization Era", Journal of Electronic Banking Systems, Vol. 2020 (2020), Article ID 519078, DOI: 10.5171/2020.519078

Copyright © 2020. Ahmed HASSAN, Rasha ABD EL-AZIZ and Meer HAMZA. Distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International CC-BY 4.0

Abstract

The accessibility of bank websites has been a great challenge for people with visual disabilities, especially in developing countries.  Egypt is considered a good example for such countries with a population over than 98 million.  The low level of staff expertise in dealing with visually disabled clients makes it harder for them. Thus, the research at hand addresses the main challenges that face people with visual disabilities, and the fact that they are mostly prevented from having independent bank accounts; which highly threatens their security. Literature was extensively reviewed to determine the key dimensions that affect the digital banking accessibility, and identify the mediating and moderating factors. A theoretical framework was accordingly developed and proposed. A structured questionnaire is adopted and adapted to survey people with visual disabilities. Focus groups are also conducted to understand their perceptions, and semi-structured interviews are conducted to get a deep insight into decision makers’ perception both in the banking sector and the governmental entity. Data collected was statistical and interpretive. The study also conducts an experiment in order to assess the recommended digital banking system. Research findings together with the literature review enabled a set of recommendations that can act as a clear guide to governmental representatives and decision makers at banks.

Keywords: Digital Banking, Visual Disability, Financial Inclusion, Assistive Technologies

Introduction

People with visual disabilities find many difficulties to perform the most common daily tasks. In such scenarios, technology, far from always providing a solution, sometimes raises the existing barriers. Several reasons and challenges exist, where the main issues refer to a lack of standards with respect to the accessible information and communication technology (ICT) interfaces and the wide diversity of requirements and special needs of potential users. One important challenge faced by visually impaired people is how to preserve their privacy and security in their daily lives. Sighted people are able to monitor their surroundings to protect themselves from privacy threats. For example, when using a mobile device in public, sighted people can hide sight lines between the screen and nosy bystanders. When sharing a photo online, people with visual disabilities cannot view it, to make sure that it does not include a private content before sharing it (Tilse, et al., 2007; Venkatesh and Sykes, 2013).

Approximately, 1.3 billion people live with some form of vision impairment. The number of people living with either moderate or severe vision impairment is higher in developing countries than in developed countries. Internet users in Egypt were reported by the Egyptian ministry of Communication and Information Technology to be over than 37 million users (Hussien, and Abd El-Aziz, 2019; Hussien, and Abd El Aziz, 2017; Raja, 2015; Abood, et al., 2015). DIGITAL banking is rapidly growing, where bank customers are adopting electronic transaction systems in developing countries in general and in Egypt in particular (Llanto, 2015; Poushter, 2016). People with visual disabilities cannot open a bank account or have an online banking because of the Egyptian banking regulations (Abd El Aziz, et al., 2018; Wentz, et al. 2017; Abd El Aziz, 2012); as they mainly depend on their families, friends or third parties to manage their bank accounts. Although Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) have a great potential, people with visual disabilities in Egypt face many challenges in using ATMs, checking balances, handling bank cards and making online purchases.  

Research problem

Being able to manage one’s money is an essential part of the day-to-day tasks. For people with visual disabilities, managing finances is very relevant to maintaining an independent living (Tilse, et al., 2007). Although the different banking services are used nowadays for several types of payments, it is considered as an inaccessible solution for people with visual disabilities. Without accessible banking solutions, many people will be excluded from vital services. Privacy might also be adversely affected. For example, users might have to depend on third parties, such as a spouse, children, and friends—or, in some instances, complete strangers—to deal with their banking services such as buying any product, using a credit card or handling an inaccessible ATM; which could expose them to greater security risks.

Despite the existence of technology in Egypt, where almost all banks have launched their websites, and provided digital services via ATMs, payment cards, and even phone banking, many banks’ websites and ATMs are not accessible, and their staff has negligible training or expertise to deal with customers with visual disabilities. ATMs are also not equipped with the required technology to be used by people with visual disabilities. Most Egyptian banks reject dealing with people with visual disabilities, making them financially excluded and jeopardizing their privacy. A number of researchers have tackled this digital divide, but still, Egyptian people with visual disabilities have received insignificant attention regarding this matter. 

Research Aim

In order to reach all potential customers, banks should offer banking services to people with visual disabilities that accommodate their accessibility needs. Banking services may be accessible to the broad range of users, by being inclusively designed, where users’ human attributes, skills, competencies and functional capacities are considered when designing any banking service. Yet, challenges that face people with visual disabilities in digital banking remain unexplored (Okonji and Ogwezzy, 2018).

Accordingly, the aim of this research is to investigate the spectrum of challenges that face people with visual disabilities when dealing with Egyptian banks, and the reasons behind preventing people with visual disabilities from opening bank accounts independently. The study also seeks to identify the main variables that affect the digital banking accessibility together with the mediating and moderating factors. Finally, the research seeks to develop an accessible prototype digital banking system.

Research Questions

The overall aim of this study can be achieved by answering the following research questions:

  1. What are the key challenges facing people with visual disabilities in the banking industry?
  2. What are the main dimensions that affect the digital banking accessibility with respect to people with visual disabilities?
  3. What are the mediating and moderating factors affecting the digital banking accessibility?

Literature Review

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified disability into three key definitions that are often used interchangeably but have different meanings: Impairment, Disability and Handicap. ‘Impairment’ refers to an abnormality in the anatomy, anatomical, physiological, or psychological function. On the other hand, ‘Disability’ refers to any limitation of an individual’s ability to perform an activity in a normal manner. Finally, ‘Handicap’ refers to a shortcoming for a person due to an impairment or a disability that hinders him/her from fulfilling a normal role on an equal level with a peer group due to physical and social barriers (Lang, 2007). 

Visual Disability

Disabilities are divided into Mobility Impairment, Cognitive, Hearing, Speech and Visual Impairment. Visual impairment refers to an impairment in vision that, even with correction, affects the educational performance. It ranges from low vision impairment to total blindness (Zitkus, et al., 2016). The International Classification of Diseases classifies four levels of visual functions which are: normal vision, moderate visual impairment, severe visual impairment and blindness. People with moderate and severe visual impairments are classified as people with low vision. The last classification is blindness, which is the focus of this research together with the perception of people with visual disabilities towards banking accessibility.

The WHO (2018) estimates that with regards to distance vision, 188.5 million people have mild vision impairments, 217 million have moderate to severe vision impairments and 36 million people are blind, with around 90% living in low-income settings (WHO, 2018). They can be divided into: inability to see images clearly and distinctly, loss of the visual field, inability to detect small changes in brightness, color blindness, and sensitivity to light (Ahmed, et al., 2017).

Due to the negligible attention paid to people with visual disabilities, there are no accurate or updated statistics of the number of people with visual disabilities in Egypt. According to the Egyptian State Information Service (2017), the number of people with disabilities in Egypt is around 10.7 per cent of the total population (SIS, 2017). Egyptian people lack the awareness of how to deal with visually disabled people. Many parents of visually disabled people might deal with a person with low vision as a blind person. Not to mention the lack of computer-based courses in schools which facilitate the educational process for people with visual disabilities (Marshall, et al. 2009).

Electronic Banking Accessibility

Internet accessibility standards are mainly provided by the World Wide Web Consortium (2008) – an international organization that provides a range of recommendations to ensure websites’ accessibility to users with disabilities (Wentz, et al., 2015). The World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) guidelines address the needs of people with disabilities, and usability with assistive technologies (Raja, et al., 2015; Caldwell, et al. 2008). For people with visual disabilities, accessibility is improved by including options of adjustable fonts, keyboard navigation options, images’ descriptions, a structured text suitable to screen readers; and captions for images, in order to maintain a consistent design.

In many western and industrialized countries, there are ethical and commercial justifications for creating business websites that are accessible to users with disabilities. In such countries, a range of drivers are promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities to accessible financial services.

Automatic Teller Machine Accessibility

In Australia, Canada, Turkey, the USA and the UK, many banks have deployed talking ATMs (Ulldemolins, et al., 2012). The talking ATMs provide audible instructions enabling visually impaired persons to independently use the machine (RNIB, 2012). All audible information is delivered privately through a standard headphone jack on the face of the machine, or a separately attached telephone handset. Information is delivered to the customer either through pre-recorded sound files or via a text-to-speech program. In USA, a final ruling on ATM accessibility standards was notified by the American Department of Justice under the Americans with Disability Act. The standards specified by the ruling included the provision of voice guidance systems, braille signs on ATM keys and input controls for people with visual disability. All ATM owners are complying with these guidelines when constructing or altering ATMs. Similarly, the Australian Bankers’ Association and the Indian Banks’ Association adopted ATM accessibility standards extensively covering the issues of technology and physical accessibility especially for customers with disabilities (Gupta, 2014). Conversely, in many developing countries, business organizations have yet to comply with the W3C guidelines and many people with disabilities continue to grapple with the internet access (Chigona, et al., 2009; Venkatesh and Sykes, 2013).

The Belgium BNP Pariba’s case

The BNP Pariba bank developed “An Accessible Bank for All” program for customers with disabilities to carry out their banking transactions in a user-friendly way. Some accessibility features are included in the software running on their ATM’s. They are mainly useful for people with visual disabilities. The voice assisted withdrawal has been available for all the users of the BNP Pariba’s ATM’s since 2010. This feature is activated when plugging in a standard 3, 5-inch earphone into the jacket of the ATM after which the screen is switched off and the dialog is started up through the ear phones.

The interaction with the machine goes through the numeric keypad, with tactile indications on the buttons: 5 dots on 5, a circle on “OK”, a cross on “Cancel” and a vertical bar on “Modify”. BNP Paribas Fortis was the first bank in Belgium to offer this feature. In the meantime, a second bank, Belhus, has an equivalent service.

Problems that face people with visual disabilities in banking

People with visual disabilities are marginalized with regards to accessing digital banking (Gallagher, et al., 2012). This is important to tackle; as they are restricted from making electronic payments, so their participation in society is limited. Moreover, they have to pay extra costs due to the additional administrative charges posed by the central bank for physical cash deposits and cash withdrawals. These benefits could not be gained by people with visual disabilities; as they do not have the same access to technology-enhanced platforms for financial transactions (Warren, 2007; Wentz, et al., 2018).

Mobile Payment

Mobile phones have transformed telephony profoundly. They are equipped with functionalities which exceed telephony needs, and which inspire the development of value-added mobile services,  mobile phones as access devices and mobile commerce in general. The number of mobile phones in use far exceeds any other technical devices that could be used to market, sell, produce, or deliver products and services to consumers. These developments open beneficial opportunities to merchants and service providers.

Purchased products and services have to be paid for. Initially, fixed-line telephony billing systems were modified to charge mobile telephony. Later, mobile telephony billing systems were introduced, and used also to charge various mobile services when such services emerged. Yet, payments, based on the billing systems, have several limitations. These include comparatively high payment transaction fees, merchants and service providers’ complaints about unfair revenue sharing, and the necessity to provide services to the billing systems (Peirce and O’Mahony, 1999, Tewari and O’Mahony, 2003). In some areas, such as the European Union, credited payment services to third parties require a (limited) credit institution license. The lack of suitable payment instruments has, been regarded as a factor that hampers the development of mobile commerce for a long time.

Mobile payments are payments for goods, services and bills with a mobile device (such as a mobile phone, smart-phone, or a personal digital assistant (PDA)) by taking the advantage of wireless and other communication technologies. Mobile devices can be used in a variety of payment scenarios, such as payment for digital contents (e.g., ring tones, logos, news, music, or games), tickets, parking fees and transport fares, or to access electronic payment services to pay bills and invoices (Dahlberg, et al., 2008). Payments for physical goods are also possible, both at vending and ticketing machines, and at manned point-of-sale (POS) terminals.

A mobile payment is carried out through a mobile payment instrument such as a mobile credit card or a mobile wallet. In addition to pure mobile payment instruments, most electronic and many non-electronic payment instruments have been mobilized. Furthermore, mobile payments, as all other payments, fall broadly into two categories: payments for daily purchases, and payments of bills (credited payments). For the purchases, mobile payments complement or compete with cash, checks, credit cards and debit cards. As for the bills, mobile payments typically provide an access to account-based payment instruments such as money transfers, Internet banking payments, direct debit assignments, or electronic invoice     acceptances (MUNOZ-LEIVA, et al., 2017).

Since the early 2000s, mobile payment services have become a hot topic even after the burst of the Internet hype. Hundreds of mobile payment services, including access to electronic payments and Internet banking, were introduced all over the world. Strikingly, many of these efforts failed. For example, most, if not all, of the dozens of mobile payment services available in EU countries and listed in the ePSO database in 2002 (Carat, 2002) have been discontinued. To facilitate the development of better mobile payment services, it is important to understand the lessons of this history by learning what previous studies have discovered about mobile payments and mobile payment services markets, as well as what issues have remained unanswered.

Assistive Technologies for Financial Inclusion

The Technology Related Assistance to Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988 described an assistive technology device as “any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.” The purpose of the assistive technologies is to support people with disabilities to carry out their daily activities including using computers, mobiles and the web without which they would find it impossible or difficult to do. Examples of these technologies for people with visual disabilities are: screen readers, refreshable braille displays, an optical character recognition software, a speech recognition software and talking browsers. Assistive technology is used to assist people with visual disabilities to access computers, internet and information technology (Suwannee, 2013). 

When designing an electronic banking channel, designers should ensure that the digital banking channel can be accessed by everyone regardless of their disabilities. In the banking sector, customers with visual disabilities can use computer screen readers to access the internet banking websites. Also, they can use mobile screen readers to access mobile banking applications. ICT-enabled banking can be made accessible and inclusive of users with varying needs and preferences. Some effective practices from the report are shared below (G3ict 2015):

  • ATMs can be equipped with voice outputs, touch screen navigations, Braille and tactile letterings, audio and visual feedback and cues, and graphic icons for navigation which can benefit persons with varying disabilities, as well as individuals with low literacy and language limitations.
  • Accessible internet banking through websites and web portals allow persons with disabilities and others to operate their finances when a physical visit to a Bank branch is difficult for them.
  • Financial institutions can offer multiple ways to contact their customer service including email, IVR systems, SMS, telephone relay and video conferencing.

Screen Readers

A screen reader is a software which interrogates the content of the screen on a computer and turns it into a non-visual form. This can be presented in a synthetic speech using speakers, or braille using braille display devices, or both. It allows blind users to hear what sighted users see on their computer monitors (Edwards and Launikonis, 2008). Regarding using the internet, screen readers parse the HTML of each page visited and read aloud what is presented on the page (Mankoff, et al., 2005). Screen readers do much more than just reading the web pages; they can be used with any software running on the computer. Therefore, there must be a keyboard compatible with that software.

Optical characters recognition software (OCR)

This software converts any scanned paper using the desktop scanner, which is scanned as a picture, into an electronic document. Therefore, people with visual disabilities can read and edit it either through the OCR software itself or convert it into any accessible document format such as Microsoft word document file (.doc/docx file). Moreover, this converted file can be printed out in Braille form (BHATIA, 2014).

This software allows people with visual disabilities to access books or any printed documents without the need of a sited person to read it for them. Unfortunately, most OCR software do not support the recognition of papers written in Arabic, except for one software produced by Sakha Company, which supports the Arabic language but unfortunately its recognition accuracy is very low and it is discontinued. Examples of OCR softwares are Kurzweil 1000 by Kurzweil Educational Systems Company and Read iris software by I.R.I.S. Company (Bhatia, 2014).

Research Methodology

The research methodology refers to all the techniques that are used to conduct the research, collect the required data for the research, and answer the research questions. This section will discuss the way to achieve the research aim through using the research strategy. The research approach will also be discussed together with the research methods used to collect data.

This research is mainly conducted to identify the challenges that face Egyptian people with visual disabilities in the banking sector, and the main dimensions that affect the digital banking accessibility together with the mediating and moderating factors with regards to people with visual disabilities. The research also seeks to develop an accessible prototype digital banking system.

The survey strategy is a systematic strategy for gathering and analyzing data from the target population about their opinion towards something. In this research, the survey strategy will be used, where a simple random sample will be selected to represent the research population; namely, people with visual disabilities in Egypt. This strategy is considered suitable because it enables fast data collection and finding significant answers easily (Punch, 2003; Creswell, 2012).

The research uses the mixed methods approach, where both quantitative and qualitative methods are used in order to benefit from the strengths of both approaches (Johnson, et al. 2007; Sekaran & BOUGIE, 2016; Onwuegbuzie and Leech, 2004).  On one hand, a qualitative research helps in gaining a deeper and detailed understanding of the problem. On the other hand, a quantitative research allows the generalisation of conclusions and the flexibility in the treatment of data. The suitable methods for addressing the research questions include: structured questionnaires, semi- structured interviews, focus groups and experimentation.

Structured questionnaires are considered suitable for surveying a relatively large number of people who are visually impaired, and collecting data which can be statistically analyzed (Creswell, 2002) using a structured equation modelling. Focus groups are also useful to obtain detailed information about the group’s feelings, perceptions and opinions. On the other hand, semi-structured interviews are appropriate for the research, as they allow a deeper knowledge of decision makers’ perspective in Egyptian banks and governmental representatives. Data collected can be interpretively analyzed in order to know more about the governmental rules, laws and projects that will be conducted for people with visual disabilities (Sekaran and Bougie, 2016; Jackson and Bazeley, 2019).

Although literature reveals that testing users via experiments on evaluating the web accessibility is very expensive and time consuming, experiments are considered the most successful method to detect accessibility problems (Mankoff, 2005; Jay, et al., 2008; Brajnik, et al., 2010). Accordingly, the underlying research utilizes the experiment method on evaluating the developed and proposed digital banking system in order to gain reliable results. Finally, based on the statistical and interpretive analysis together with the reviewed literature, derived conclusions and recommendations are made regarding the digital banking accessibility.

The research variables

Efficiency

Regarding DIGITAL Banking, users believe that using this service will result in changing the nature of banking, navigation patterns, number of site visits and number of transactions executed (Dwivedi, et al. 2017; Bhatiasevi, 2016; Martins, et al., 2014; Zhou et al., 2010). Furthermore, based on UTAUT, both Bhatiasevi (2016) and Zhou, et al. (2010) concluded that Efficiency significantly influences the continuous use of DIGITAL Banking.

Ease of Use

Users feel connected to technologies that are convenient and simple to use (Alalwan, et al., 2017; Ozturk, et al., 2016; Shareef, et al., 2017). The easy accessibility of a technology tends to motivate users, making them highly inclined to adopt the technology (Dwivedi, et al., 2017; Oliveira, et al., 2014; PIKKARAINEN, et al., 2004). Thus, when updating a given technological service automatically, users should not experience difficulty or complexity in using the technology; otherwise, their usage will plummet significantly (Yu, 2012, Liebana-Cabanillas, et al., 2017; Yiu, et al., 2007).

Facilitating conditions (FC)

FC is “the degree to which an individual believes that an organisational and technical infrastructure exists to support the use of the system” (Venkatesh, et al., 2003). A number of studies have indicated the positive influence of FC on the level of usage among users (e.g. (Dwivedi, et al., 2017A; Dwivedi, et al., 2017B; Rana, et al., 2016; Shaikh and Karjaluoto, 2015; Yu, 2012; Zhou, et al., 2010). The capacity to log in to personal accounts, the ability to transfer money from one account to another and the high level of compatibility supports the use of M-Banking (Shaikh and Karjaluoto, 2015).

Price value (PV)

PV is defined as “the consumers’ cognitive trade-off between the perceived benefits of the applications and the monetary cost for using them” (Venkatesh, et al., 2012). During the course of using a technological service, users tend to compare the prices they paid for the technology and the discounts they might get from the continuous use of the technology (Alalwan, Dwivedi, et al., 2014; Al-Sukkar, 2005; Baabdullah, 2018; Laukkanen and Lauronen, 2005). Thus, users will tend to increase their level of usage when they are rewarded by discounts (Laukkanen and Lauronen, 2005). However, in the context of Internet banking and M-Banking, consumers will radically become reluctant to continue using a technology when the providers of the service increase its price (Njenga and Ndlovu, 2012). In such circumstances, the users of the technology tend to switch their usage to a competing service (SCHIERHOLZ and Laukkanen, 2007; Raleting and Nel, 2011).

As indicated by Alalwan, et al. (2017), when the PV level is higher, customers become more enthusiastic about continuing to use a technology. It should be ensured that the benefits derived from the technology use are greater than the monetary costs paid by the customers for continuing to use the technology (Lee, et al., 2012). Accordingly, users who are unable to pay the required money for continuing the use of an upgraded technology (such as M-Banking) show no interest in a continuous use of it.

Reliability

Customers feel highly motivated to adopt and use systems that can provide the maximum reliability (Peters, et al., 2016; Upadhyay and Jahanyan, 2016). In the case of DIGITAL Banking, the benefits that the customers will get by using the facility will make them interested in it, and thus the propensity to use the technology will increase due to the sensitivity of using online financial services (Zhou, 2011). This sensitivity demands the highest degrees of reliability in the provided technology.

Security/Privacy

Security and privacy in the context of digital banking defined as “a potential loss due to fraud or a hacker compromising the security of an online bank user” (Lee, 2009; Liao, et al., 2011). Financial transactions using IT devices are a great threat to customers as criminal acts can be done quickly without any physical interaction (Cheung and Lee, 2006). As a result, most of the customers are reluctant to adopt digital banking services due to their security and privacy concerns (Lee, 2009; Lee and Turban, 2001; Yousafzai, et al., 2009; Poon, 2007). Today, a number of banking services are offered through the Internet and smart devices, thus customers are more concerned about serious security issues. Privacy/security issues have been proven as barriers, hence, customers keep their eyes on what kind of data is collected, for what purpose, how long these data are stored and for what purpose their data is processed (Yoon and Steege, 2013).

Drawing on the various studies in literature, the issues of security and privacy were found to be the most important determinant factor which obstruct customers’ adoption of Internet banking (Koskosas, 2011; Yoon and Steege, 2013). Moreover, the information privacy and security issues were identified as serious limiting factors that hinder the adoption and use of digital banking applications (Khalfan and Alshawaf, 2004). Accordingly, security and privacy are widely considered as the most important factor which hinders the acceptance of Internet banking among banking customers.

Digital banking Accessibility

According to Barnes and Vidgen (2002), accessibility is concerned with how to access and interact with a system, in terms of:  easy navigation, appropriate design and how a user focuses on the design principles to improve the website accessibility. The purpose of an aesthetic design is to create an accessible digital banking system (Ahmad and Al-Zu’bi, 2011; Alam and Yasin, 2010; Shergill and Chen, 2005). Website accessibility/usability, includes perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU) as factors that positively influence customer’s perception towards digital banking (Yoon and Steege 2013). In literature, accessibility has been found and perceived to be the significant factor in determining customers’ interaction in digital banking (Casalo, et al., 2008; Hasbullah, et al., 2016; Shergill and Chen, 2005; Yoon and Steege, 2013).

Moderators: Demographics and Technology Literacy

There is quite a number of factors used as a moderator to study users’ acceptance of the technology. For instance; Sun and Zhang (2006) classified moderators into three groups; organizational, technological and individual factors, in which age and gender lay in the third group, and suggested thatresearch on the moderating factors add a great value. Prior studies have suggested that gender plays an important role in explaining the behavioral intention in information system research (Sun and Zhang, 2006; Tarhini, et al., 2014; Venkatesh, et al., 2003). For customers’ acceptance or rejection decision in the Internet and mobile banking, gender and age significantly influenced the decision in Finland (Laukkanen, 2016). Moreover, the study of Yousafzai and Yani-de-Soriano (2012) revealed that technology readiness, age and gender moderate the attitude intention among Internet banking users in the UK. In this study, technology Literacy, age and gender were used as moderators in customer’s usage determinant factors.

Research Framework and Hypotheses

This section presents the research framework as well as the research hypotheses developed from the model. The framework consists of nine variables. Efficiency, Ease of Use, Facilitating Conditions, Price and Reliability are five constructs that are considered as the main dimensions affecting the digital banking accessibility in Egypt, and they are mediated by Security, and moderated by Technology Literacy and User’s Demographics. Thus, the research hypotheses could be developed as follows:

H1: There is a significant impact of the Research Variables on the digital banking Accessibility

H2: There is a significant impact of the Research Variables on Security

H3: There is a significant impact of Security on the digital banking Accessibility

H4: Security mediates the relationship between the Research variables and the digital banking Accessibility

H5: Technology Literacy moderates the relationship between the Research variables and the digital banking Accessibility

H5: User’s Demographics moderate the relationship between the Research variables and the digital banking Accessibility

Conclusion

People with visual disabilities have been facing many challenges in a variety of industries. The banking sector, in particular, has been posing many challenges to those with visual impairments. This research investigates the challenges these people face and the reasons behind preventing them from opening bank accounts independently.  The study also identifies the main constructs that affect the digital banking accessibility together with the mediating and moderating factors. Then, the research develops an accessible prototype digital banking system.

References

  • Abd El Aziz, R., (2012), ATM Usage: A Stakeholder Analysis the Egyptian Context, 14 March 2012, LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, ISBN-10: 384840835X, ISBN-13: 978-3848408351.
  • Abd El Aziz, R., Beeson, I., and Hussein, M. I. (2018), “A Soft Systems Methodology Based Analysis of the ATM System in Egypt”, International Journal of Computer and Information Technology (ISSN: 2279 – 0764) Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 176 – 183.
  • ABOOD, M., ZDENEK, R. & KALI, K. 2015. What can we do to help? Adopting age-friendly banking to improve financial well-being for older adults. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
  • AHMED, T., HOYLE, R., SHAFFER, P., CONNELLY, K., CRANDALL, D. & KAPADIA, A. 2017. Understanding Physical Safety, Security, and Privacy Concerns of People with Visual Impairments. IEEE Internet Computing.
  • ALALWAN, A. A., DWIVEDI, Y. K. & RANA, N. P. 2017. Factors influencing adoption of mobile banking by Jordanian bank customers: Extending UTAUT2 with trust. International Journal of Information Management, 37, 99-110.
  • Alalwan, A. A., Dwivedi, Y. K. and Williams, M. D. 2014. Examining Factors Affecting Customer Intention and Adoption of Internet Banking In Jordan. UKAIS, 2014. 3.
  • ALAM, S. S. & YASIN, N. M. 2010. An investigation into the antecedents of customer satisfaction of online shopping. Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, 5, 71-78.
  • AL-SUKKAR, A. S. 2005. The application of information systems in the Jordanian banking sector: a study of the acceptance of the internet.
  • BAABDULLAH, A. M. 2018. Factors influencing adoption of mobile social network games (M-SNGs): the role of awareness. Information Systems Frontiers, 1-17.
  • BARNES, S. J. & VIDGEN, R. T. 2002. An integrative approach to the assessment of e-commerce quality. J. Electron. Commerce Res., 3, 114-127.
  • BHATIA, E. N. 2014. Optical character recognition techniques: a review. International journal of advanced research in computer science and software engineering, 4.
  • BRAJNIK, G., YESILADA, Y. & HARPER, S. Testability and validity of WCAG 2.0: the expertise effect. Proceedings of the 12th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility, 2010. 43-50.
  • Caldwell, B., Cooper, M., Reid, L. G. and Vanderheiden, G. (2008). ‘Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0’, Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) [online], available: http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20. Accessed: 25th may 2016.
  • CARAT, G. 2002. Epayment systems database: Trends and analysis. Electronic Payment Systems Observatory (ePSO).
  • CASALÓ, L. V., FLAVIÁN, C. & GUINALÍU, M. 2008. The role of satisfaction and website usability in developing customer loyalty and positive word‐of‐mouth in the e‐banking services. International journal of bank marketing.
  • CHEUNG, C. M. & LEE, M. K. 2006. Understanding consumer trust in Internet shopping: A multidisciplinary approach. Journal of the American society for Information Science and Technology, 57, 479-492.
  • CHIGONA, W., BEUKES, D., VALLY, J. & TANNER, M. 2009. Can mobile internet help alleviate social exclusion in developing countries? The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 36, 1-16.
  • CRESWELL, J. W. 2002. Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative, Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ.
  • DAHLBERG, T., MALLAT, N., ONDRUS, J. & ZMIJEWSKA, A. 2008. Past, present and future of mobile payments research: A literature review. Electronic commerce research and applications, 7, 165-181.
  • DWIVEDI, Y. K., RANA, N. P., JANSSEN, M., LAL, B., WILLIAMS, M. D. & CLEMENT, M. 2017. An empirical validation of a unified model of electronic government adoption (UMEGA). Government Information Quarterly, 34, 211-230.
  • EDWARDS, J. N. & LAUNIKONIS, B. S. 2008. The accessibility and interconnectivity of the tubular system network in toad skeletal muscle. The Journal of physiology, 586, 5077-5089.
  • GALLAGHER, B. A. M., MURPHY, E. & FENNELL, A. 2012. Ageing, vision impairment and digital inclusion in Ireland. The Journal of Community Informatics, 8, 1712-1744.
  • GUPTA, V. 2014. Making microfinance accessible to persons with disabilities: awareness and attitudes among Indian microfinance institutions. Center for financial inclusion, Accion, USA.
  • HASBULLAH, N. A., OSMAN, A., ABDULLAH, S., SALAHUDDIN, S. N., RAMLEE, N. F. & SOHA, H. M. 2016. The relationship of attitude, subjective norm and website usability on consumer intention to purchase online: An evidence of Malaysian youth. Procedia Economics and Finance, 35, 493-502.
  • Hussien, M, I. and Abd El-Aziz, R. (2019), ‘System Dynamics Modeling and Simulation for E-Banking: The Egyptian Context’. In Martin Garcia, Juan (Ed.), Modeling the Economy: Money and Finances. Selected Papers on System Dynamics Collection, (pp. 70 – 84). KDP Publishers, ISBN: 9781687003133.
  • Hussien, M., I., and Abd El Aziz, R. (2017), ‘System Dynamics Modeling and Simulation for E-Banking: The Egyptian Context’, IBIMA Business Review Journal, Vol. 2017, pp. 1-17. DOI: 10.5171/2017. 904520. ISSN: 1947-3788.
  • Jackson, K. & Bazeley, P. 2019. Qualitative data analysis with Nvivo, SAGE Publications Limited.
  • Jay, C., Lunn, D. & MichailidouICHAILIDOU, E. 2008. End user evaluations. Web accessibility. Springer.
  • Johnson, R. B. and Onwuegbuzie, A. J. and Turner, L. A. (2007). ‘Toward a Definition of Mixed Methods Research’, Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1, 112-133.
  • KHALFAN, A. M. & ALSHAWAF, A. 2004. Adoption and implementation problems of e-banking: A study of the managerial perspective of the banking industry in Oman. Journal of Global Information Technology Management, 7, 47-64.
  • KOSKOSAS, I. 2011. E-banking security: A communication perspective. Risk Management, 13, 81-99.
  • LANG, R. 2001. The development and critique of the social model of disability. Overseas Development Group: University of East Anglia.
  • LAUKKANEN, T. & LAURONEN, J. 2005. Consumer value creation in mobile banking services. International journal of mobile Communications, 3, 325-338.
  • LAUKKANEN, T. 2016. Consumer adoption versus rejection decisions in seemingly similar service innovations: The case of the Internet and mobile banking. Journal of Business Research, 69, 2432-2439.
  • Laukkanen, T. J. B. P. M. J. 2007. Internet vs mobile banking: comparing customer value perceptions. 13, 788-797.
  • LEE, K. C. and CHUNG, N. J. I. W. C. 2009. Understanding factors affecting trust in and satisfaction with mobile banking in Korea: A modified DeLone and McLean’s model perspective. 21, 385-392.
  • LEE, M. K. & TURBAN, E. 2001. A trust model for consumer internet shopping. International Journal of electronic commerce, 6, 75-91.
  • LEE, Y.-K., PARK, J.-H., CHUNG, N. & BLAKENEY, A. 2012. A unified perspective on the factors influencing usage intention toward mobile financial services. Journal of Business Research, 65, 1590-1599.
  • LIAO, C., LIU, C.-C. & CHEN, K. 2011. Examining the impact of privacy, trust and risk perceptions beyond monetary transactions: An integrated model. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 10, 702-715.
  • LLANTO, G. 2015. Financial inclusion, education, and regulation in the Philippines.
  • MANKOFF, J., FAIT, H. & TRAN, T. Is your web page accessible? A comparative study of methods for assessing web page accessibility for the blind. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, 2005. 41-50.
  • MARSHALL, C. A. & KENDALL, E. 2009. Disabilities: Insights from across fields and around the world, ABC-CLIO.
  • MARTINS, C., OLIVEIRA, T. & POPOVIČ, A. 2014. Understanding the Internet banking adoption: A unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and perceived risk application. International Journal of Information Management, 34, 1-13.
  • MUNOZ-LEIVA, F., CLIMENT-CLIMENT, S. & LIÉBANA-CABANILLAS, F. 2017. Determinants of intention to use the mobile banking apps: An extension of the classic TAM model. Spanish Journal of Marketing-ESIC, 21, 25-38.
  • NJENGA, K. & NDLOVU, S. On rational choice, risk and utility in mobile banking. 2012 e-Leadership Conference on Sustainable e-Government and e-Business Innovations (E-LEADERSHIP), 2012. IEEE, 1-9.
  • Njenga, K. and Ndlovu, S. On rational choice, risk and utility in mobile banking. 2012 e-Leadership Conference on Sustainable e-Government and e-Business Innovations (E-Leadership), 2012. IEEE, 1-9.
  • OKONJI, P. E. & OGWEZZY, D. C. 2018. Financial inclusion: perceptions of visually impaired older Nigerians. Journal of Enabling Technologies.
  • OLIVEIRA, T., FARIA, M., THOMAS, M. A. & POPOVIČ, A. 2014. Extending the understanding of mobile banking adoption: When UTAUT meets TTF and ITM. International journal of information management, 34, 689-703.
  • ONWUEGBUZIE, A. J. & LEECH, N. L. 2004. Enhancing the interpretation of “significant” findings: The role of mixed methods research. The qualitative report, 9, 770-792.
  • OZTURK, A. B., BILGIHAN, A., NUSAIR, K. & OKUMUS, F. 2016. What keeps the mobile hotel booking users loyal? Investigating the roles of self-efficacy, compatibility, perceived ease of use, and perceived convenience. International Journal of Information Management, 36, 1350-1359.
  • PEIRCE, M. & O’MAHONY, D. 1999. Flexible real-time payment methods for mobile communications. IEEE Personal Communications, 6, 44-55.
  • PETERS, T., IŞıK, Ö., TONA, O. & POPOVIČ, A. 2016. How system quality influences mobile BI use: The mediating role of engagement. International Journal of Information Management, 36, 773-783.
  • POON, W. C. 2008. Users’ adoption of e‐banking services: the Malaysian perspective. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.
  • POUSHTER, J. 2016. Smartphone ownership and internet usage continues to climb in emerging economies. Pew Research Center, 22, 1-44.
  • PUNCH, K. F. 2003. Survey research: The basics, Sage.
  • RAJA, D. S. 2016. Bridging the disability divide through digital technologies. Background paper for the World Development report.
  • Raja, D.S., Narasimhan, N., D’lntino, P., Maheshwari, V. and Montenegro, V. (2015). “Inclusive financial services for seniors and persons with disabilities: global trends in accessibility requirements”, A G3ict Best Practices White Paper Series, Aberdeen, available at: microfinancegateway.org/library/inclusive- financial-services-seniors-and-persons-disabilities-global-trends-accessibility
  • RALETING, T. & NEL, J. 2011. Determinants of low-income non-users’ attitude towards WIG mobile phone banking: Evidence from South Africa. African Journal of Business Management, 5, 212.
  • RANA, N. P., DWIVEDI, Y. K., WILLIAMS, M. D. & WEERAKKODY, V. 2016. Adoption of online public grievance redressal system in India: Toward developing a unified view. Computers in Human Behavior, 59, 265-282.
  • RNIB (2012). “Make money talk: why banks should provide accessible and talking ATMs to assist bling and partially sighted customers”, Newcastle, available at: rnib.org.uk/sites/default/files/Make%20money% 20talk%20Campaign%20report.pdf (accessed 25 march 2020).
  • SCHIERHOLZ, R. & LAUKKANEN, T. 2007. Internet vs mobile banking: comparing customer value perceptions. Business process management journal.
  • SEKARAN, U. & BOUGIE, R. 2016. Research methods for business: A skill building approach, John Wiley & Sons.
  • SHAIKH, A. A. & KARJALUOTO, H. 2015. Mobile banking adoption: A literature review. Telematics and informatics, 32, 129-142.
  • SHAREEF, M. A., DWIVEDI, Y. K., KUMAR, V. & KUMAR, U. 2017. Content design of advertisement for consumer exposure: Mobile marketing through short messaging service. International Journal of Information Management, 37, 257-268.
  • SHERGILL, G. S. & CHEN, Z. 2005. WEB-BASED SHOPPING: CONSUMERS’ATTITUDES TOWARDS ONLINE SHOPPING IN NEW ZEALAND. Journal of electronic commerce research, 6, 78.
  • State information service (2017) online, available at: https://www.sis.gov.eg/Story/9?lang=en-us/
  • Last accessed: [25 march 2020].
  • SUN, H. & ZHANG, P. 2006. The role of moderating factors in user technology acceptance. International journal of human-computer studies, 64, 53-78.
  • TARHINI, A., HONE, K. & LIU, X. 2014. Measuring the moderating effect of gender and age on e-learning acceptance in England: A structural equation modeling approach for an extended technology acceptance model. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 51, 163-184.
  • TEWARI, H. & O’MAHONY, D. 2003. Real-time payments for mobile IP. IEEE Communications Magazine, 41, 126-136.
  • Tilse, C., Setterlund, D., Wilson, J. and Roseman, L. (2007). “Managing the Financial Assets of Older People: Balancing Independence and Protection”, British Journal of Social Work. Oxford University Press.
  • ULLDEMOLINS, A. R., LANSINGH, V. C., VALENCIA, L. G., CARTER, M. J. & ECKERT, K. A. 2012. Social inequalities in blindness and visual impairment: a review of social determinants. Indian journal of ophthalmology, 60, 368.
  • UPADHYAY, P. & JAHANYAN, S. 2016. Analyzing user perspective on the factors affecting use intention of mobile based transfer payment. Internet Research.
  • VENKATESH, V. & SYKES, T. A. 2013. Digital divide initiative success in developing countries: A longitudinal field study in a village in India. Information Systems Research, 24, 239-260.
  • VENKATESH, V., MORRIS, M. G., DAVIS, G. B. & DAVIS, F. D. 2003. User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS quarterly, 425-478.
  • VENKATESH, V., THONG, J. Y. & XU, X. 2012. Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. MIS quarterly, 157-178.
  • WARREN, M. 2007. The digital vicious cycle: Links between social disadvantage and digital exclusion in rural areas. Telecommunications Policy, 31, 374-388.
  • WENTZ, B. & TRESSLER, K. 2017. Exploring the accessibility of banking and finance systems for blind users. First Monday, 22.
  • Wentz, B., Jaeger, P.T. and Bertot, J.C., (2015). Accessibility for persons with disabilities and the inclusive future of libraries. Emerald Group Publishing.
  • WENTZ, B., PHAM, D., FEASER, E., SMITH, D., SMITH, J. and WILSON, A. J. U. A. I. T. I. S. (2018). Documenting the accessibility of 100 US bank and finance websites. 1-10.
  • World Health Organization (2018) online, available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en/ Last accessed: [25 march 2020].
  • YIU, C. S., GRANT, K. & EDGAR, D. 2007. Factors affecting the adoption of Internet Banking in Hong Kong—implications for the banking sector. International journal of information management, 27, 336-351.
  • YOON, H. S. & STEEGE, L. M. B. 2013. Development of a quantitative model of the impact of customers’ personality and perceptions on Internet banking use. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 1133-1141.
  • YOUSAFZAI, S., PALLISTER, J. & FOXALL, G. 2009. Multi-dimensional role of trust in Internet banking adoption. The Service Industries Journal, 29, 591-605.
  • YU, C.-S. 2012. Factors affecting individuals to adopt mobile banking: Empirical evidence from the UTAUT model. Journal of electronic commerce research, 13, 104.
  • Zhou, T. J. I. R. 2011. An empirical examination of initial trust in mobile banking. 21, 527-540.
  • ZHOU, T., LU, Y. & WANG, B. 2010. Integrating TTF and UTAUT to explain mobile banking user adoption. Computers in human behavior, 26, 760-767.
  • ZITKUS, E., BRIGATTO, A. C., FERRARI, A. L. M., BONFIM, G. H., CARVALHO FILHO, I. F., REIS, T. D., MEDOLA, F. O. & PASCHOARELLI, L. C. Accessibility and usability of websites intended for people with disabilities: a preliminary study. International Conference of Design, User Experience, and Usability, 2016. Springer, 678-688.
  • Yousafzai, S., & Yani-de-Soriano, M. (2012). Understanding customer-specific factors underpinning internet banking adoption. International journal of bank marketing, 30(1), 60-81.

 

Appendix

  • Do you have a bank account?
  • Do you have digital banking account?
  • Do you use digital banking services?
  • How long have you been using digital banking?
  • How frequently do you use digital banking?
  • When do you most frequently use digital banking?
  • The website is clearly structured and traceable.
  • The website does not contain too many pop-ups and banner advertisements.
  • The website is graphically appealing and attractive.
  • The website menu design is easy to understand.
  • The website is easy to use, login and navigate.
  • The website functions properly.
  • I think that learning to use Internet banking would be easy for me.
  • I think that the interaction with Internet banking would be clear and understandable.
  • I think that using Internet banking does not require a lot of mental effort.
  • I think that doing what I want via Internet banking would be easy.
  • It is easy for me to become skillful at using Internet banking service.
  • I find Internet banking easy to use.
  • Learning to use Internet banking is easy for me.
  • My interaction with Internet banking is clear and understandable.
  • It is easy for me to remember how to perform task with Internet banking
  • It is easy to get Internet banking to do what I want it to do.
  • Overall, I think that using Internet banking would be easy.
  • I trust that transaction conducted through Internet banking is secure and private.
  • I trust that payments made through Internet banking channel will be processed securely.
  • I believe my personal information on Internet banking will be kept confidential.
  • I have the resources necessary to use Internet banking.
  • I have the knowledge necessary to use Internet banking.
  • Internet banking is not compatible with other systems I use.
  • My living environment supports me to use internet banking.
  • My working environment supports me to use Internet banking.
  • Using Internet banking is compatible with my life.
  • Help is available when I have a problem in using Internet banking.
  • The website is always available.
  • The website performance is satisfactory.
  • The website information is accurate.
  • The website information content is well organized and easy to understand.
  • The website presents its security certificate and policy explicitly.
  • The website keeps my credit card information secure.
  • The website does not share personal information with other sites.
  • The website gives me confidence when doing digital banking transactions.
  • It protects information about my Web-shopping behavior.
  • It does not share my personal information with other sites.
  • This site protects information about my credit card.
  • The website makes it easy to find what I need.
  • The website offers banking products at a low cost.
  • The website provides a variety of packages and offers that suits my needs.
  • The website makes it easy to find what I need.
  • It makes it easy to get anywhere on the site.
  • It enables me to complete a transaction quickly.
  • Information at this site is well organized.
  • It loads its pages fast.
  • The website is simple to use.
  • The website enables me to get on to it quickly.
  • The website is well organized.
  • Internet banking services are reasonably priced.
  • Internet banking is a good value for the money.
  • At the current price, Internet banking provides a good value.
  • I think Internet banking services are expensive to use.
  • I think Internet banking enabled handsets are expensive.
  • I think the subscription fee to use Internet banking is expensive for me.
  • I believe my Internet banking transaction information will not be lost during an online session.
  • I believe my Internet banking transaction information will only reach the target bank account.
  • I feel comfortable using devices to conduct Internet banking operations.
  • I am comfortable in conducting Internet banking operations.

 

Shares