Factors Affecting Behavioral Intention to Use Mobile Banking Among Malaysian Rural Residents

Abstract

Malaysia has been a successful developing country and is establishing itself as a developed nation, focusing on a strong economy and a high living standard. Malaysia has also enhanced its digital technology, encompassing everything from robotics to artificial intelligence. Since 96.8 % of Malaysia's total population of 34 million is connected to the internet and the use of mobile internet users in Malaysia is forecasted to increase between 2.6 million users by 2028, the use of mobile banking will also continue to grow, especially in rural parts of Malaysia. Mobile banking will help rural communities increase their financial accessibility and push the country toward digitalization. Based on a review of past literature, this study aimed to investigate the possible relationships that may exist between variables such as subjective norm, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and perceived COVID-19 risk on behavioral intention to use mobile banking among Malaysian rural residents. Another goal of the study was to discuss the implications of the research findings that will benefit policy makers. A total of 200 respondents answered the questionnaire distributed to residents of Kuala Selangor, Malaysia. The results of this study found that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and perceived COVID-19 risk had significant positive relationships with behavioral intention to use mobile banking. The scientific novelty of this research is that the subjective norm was insignificant.