Sectoral Analysis of e-Banking Industry An Evolutionary Approach

Abstract

E-banking has the potential to provide accessible, convenient financial services, because it no longer requires a 'bricks and mortar' infrastructure, operated by the permanent staff of a financial institution. E-banking uses an electronic infrastructure to originate transactions. However, partners in an e-banking initiative differ in nature, in location, in accessibility for the poor, and in the functionality they are able to provide. Many early electronic banking initiatives were designed to reduce the cost of transactions for the financial institutions as much as to deliver value to the customer, with a number offeatures available to customers, such as cash withdrawals and cash-back transactions, deposits, payments and transfers. Value - added services can be provided - such as loyalty programmes, person-to-person transfers, airtime top up for mobile phones and government payments.