Purpose-The purpose of this study is to examine the internal determinants of bank profitability and stability in Pakistan banking sector. Because of specific research objectives, this study excludes the external factors of profitability and stability to find the role of bank internal determinants in achieving high performance. Design/methodology/approach-A panel regression analysis is built on a balanced panel data using 24 commercial banks over the sample period of 2007-2015. The authors performed a separate analysis of bank profitability and stability. Both models used a comprehensive set of bank internal determinants. Findings-The results that were obtained from profitability model indicated that bank size, credit risk, funding risk and stability have statistically significant impacts on profitability, while liquidity risk showed the statistically insignificant impact on profitability. Regression findings from stability model reveal that bank size, liquidity risk, funding risk and profitability have statistically significant impacts on stability, while credit risk had an insignificant effect on stability. However, the effect of the financial crisis is uniform and showed statistically insignificant impact in both models. Practical implications-Overall, the authors' findings bring some new but useful insights to the banking literature. Some recommendations may be functional for the sustainable performance of banks. Originality/value-In view of study results, the authors provide interesting insights into the practices and characteristics of banks in Pakistan. This study also highlights significant bank internal determinants to improve understanding in the existing literature.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the intention of using mobile payment (m-payment) services in Sarawak, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach A total of 194 online payment users were selected to respond to the structured questionnaire. The partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data by assessing the measurement and model. Findings Perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use mediated the relationship between perceived compatibility (PC) and the intention to use the mobile payment for mobile network operators’ services. Research limitations/implications The analysis provides insights that PC is considered as a significant determinant for mobile payment of mobile network operators’ services. Practical implications The operators can consider factors such as PC in the design of their mobile applications and the potential to expand the m-payment services to others e-wallet such as Sarawak e-wallet. The model possesses medium prediction power, which suggests that other variables such as perceived security and personal innovativeness also can be used to predict the usage behaviour of mobile payment for the mobile network services. Originality/value The present study contributes to the m-payment users’ behaviour intention literature by investigating the mobile-based predictors of using m-payment technology in an emerging digital economy state in Sarawak, Malaysia. This study also extends the knowledge of technology acceptance model by introducing the mediation effect of PU and ease of use between the mobile-based predictors and m-payment intention.

Purpose This study’s objectives are twofold; first, this paper aims to explore the determinants of perceived benefit and perceived risk of Islamic Fintech. Second, this study examines the influence of perceived benefit, perceived risk and user trust on the intention to adopt Islamic Fintech. Design/methodology/approach The sample of 350 was distributed among the respondents, while a usable sample of 321 was retained for the analysis. The study performed a self-administration survey to collect the sample data while the hypothesized model was tested using SmartPLS. Findings The results revealed that perceived benefit and perceived risk were significant and positively influenced by their factors. Moreover, perceived benefits showed a positive and significant impact on trust. However, perceived risk had a negative and significant impact on trust. The results also found a strong positive and significant relationship between trust and intention to adopt Islamic Fintech. Originality/value The outcome of this research may be used to develop strategies for Fintech and enables the financial sector to attain economies of scale in the world.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors influencing customer adoption toward takaful products in Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach The study used five attributes of diffusion innovation theory (DOI), namely, relative advantage, compatibility, trialability, observability and complexity. Furthermore, the authors introduced two additional constructs, namely, consumer awareness and religiosity to analyze the adoption behavior of customers. A total of 365 questionnaires were distributed among the participants of the study. The survey was conducted in the Karachi city where the respondents were the existing and potential users of takaful products. The theoretical model of DOI theory was tested using structural equation modeling. Findings The findings report that complexity has a negative impact on the adoption of takaful, whereas relative advantage, compatibility, trialability, observability, religiosity and consumer awareness shows a positive and significant influence. Originality/value It is a noteworthy point that past literature is quite limited to investigate the determinants of consumer intentions to adopt takaful products. Based on this argument, the authors build the study to provide a scope and coverage in the field of Islamic insurance. The authors also expect that the research will encourage and provide a venue for forthcoming studies to help policy makers and academicians in this emerging business.

Tourism sector in Malaysia has always been one of its focal service industries not only in the past, but in the future as well in which Malaysian government has been focusing on diverting its economic activities from a resource-based to a service-based economy in its new economic model. China, a strongly emerging economy has been ranked as the third main tourist generating country for Malaysia since 2012. Hence, this study empirically identifies the macroeconomic determinants affecting the tourism demand from China to Malaysia. These determinants include real income, travel cost, exchange rate and trade openness. Particularly, real income and trade openness are evident to positively affect Chinese tourism demand while travel cost and exchange rate are found to adversely influence Chinese tourists' decision to travel to Malaysia. JEL Classifications: Z32, F2