THE INFLUENCE OF SITE AESTHETICS, EASE OF USE, PRIVACY/ AUTHENTICATION ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY, RETENTION, AND COMMITMENT TOWARDS E-BANKING WITHIN THE RWANDAN BANKING INDUSTRY

Abstract

The transformation from traditional, bricks-and-mortar banking to E-banking has been momentous. The evo

lution of the E-banking industry can be traced early 1970s. Banks began to look at E-banking as a means to

replace some of their traditional branch functions. E-banking comprises various formats or technologies,

including telephone banking, direct bill payment, Internet banking, and mobile banking. This research project

aimed at unearthing the perceptual view of the respondents on the e-banking complexities (Ease of Access/Ac

cessibility, Inter-phase Design / aesthetics, Privacy/Risk/ Authentication) and how they affect the customer’s

loyalty, retention and commitment towards the usage of e-banking services. The study employed descriptive

and correlational research designs. A data set to test the proposed model came from self-constructed, validated

and self-administered survey of a sample of 250 retail-banking customers in three banks in Rwanda. The statis

tical result reveals that there exists a strong relationship between electronic banking complexities and customer

loyalty, retention, and commitment towards e-banking within the Rwandan banking. The male respondents

portrayed having experienced e-banking complexities in the usage of e-banking than females, while the female

respondents exemplify higher levels of loyalty, retention, and commitment than their male counterparts. Those

with higher educational levels were more comfortable with the usage of e- banking than those with low educa

tion level. The respondents with advance ages seemed not to portray perceived difficulty in the usage of e-bank

ing services than those of lower ages.