Online Payment Services and Individuals Behavior: New evidence from the MENAP

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the relationship between individuals characteristics and the use of online payment services in daily life in the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAP). The data of this study were collected from the World Bank's Global Findex Database 2014. In this study, the use of online payment services is linked with these users' education level, age, gender, and income level. The analysis reveals that the use of online payment tools in the MENAP region is still at the minimum. The results also indicate that people with higher education are more familiar with using online services than people with less education. Therefore, this study recommends that policymakers in the region could work together with financial-services companies, such as banks, to provide electronic tools that are lower cost and easier to use so as to enhance the use of online banking in the MENAP. These tools could promote online payment methods through the use of electronic cards, ATMs, and online payment systems, thus official financial institutions could direct the online services according to individuals behavior . Future research could focus on the relationship between the use of online payment systems and the performance of financial intermediaries; it could also study the influence of using online payment services and firms profitability in the region. Also, there is a need to investigate the relationship between the 2020 COVID 19 pandemic and using online-banking services in daily life in the MENAP, and whether a lack of accessible online financial services is impeding economic stability in the region during a time of crisis.