This section will provide an overview of the methodology and the data collection tools used in doing the case study of Commercial Bank of Qatar in view of increasing active customer base of electronic banking services in the bank.
The present research is a qualitative as well as quantitative analysis of the effectiveness of e-banking services in Qatar. It uses a descriptive survey design to investigate if employees as well as customers of the bank are comfortable with the currently used e-banking platforms and what they like or suggest having in e-banking. The findings provide a detailed analysis of the data from a given population to determine the status of e-banking.
According to Dawson (2009), it is important to know the difference between qualitative and quantitative methods before research methodology starts (Research Methodology: An Introduction, n.d.).(please be noted that there is no author that is why title name is used).
Qualitative research involves subjective data. Dawson (2009) mentions that qualitative research focuses on behaviour, attitude and experience through the methods like interviews. Since attitudes, behaviour and experiences are very important so this kind of research tries to get in depth feeling and opinion from the people who participate in the interviews. survey (Research Methodology: An Introduction, n.d.).
Quantitative research is a pragmatic approach used for research purposes. The quantified data is captured here. It involves objective data. Collection of large data has encompassed the use of questionnaires as well as structured interviews. According to Dawson (2009), quantitative research aims to target more people and connecting with people. He further mentions that this method is much quicker than it happens in qualitative research. Both the researches need skilful, trained and experienced researchers.
According to Veal (2005), the following are some traits of the qualitative approach (Research Methodology: An Introduction, n.d.):
- This method aims that the researcher understands the personal experiences of the participant in depth.
- It mainly aims at people’s understanding instead of focusing on external causes.
- It helps the researcher to understand the research issues form the point of view of the participants.
- It examines personal changes happened in a period of time.
- It focuses on human-interest issues
Research Methodology
This part of research deals with research methodology that was employed in conducting the study. It, therefore, covers the research locale, research design, target population, sample selection, research instruments, conducting, reliability of research instruments, validity of the research instruments, data collection procedures, data analysis, and reporting.
The research methodology that was used in the study is the combinationmixture of qualitative as well as quantitative research methods. By using this mixed methodology, the hypotheses of the research questions can be measured, determined, and analysed. The method also helped in determining the quantity and consistency of results. The method contributed in determining the satisfaction of the employees and the customers of the bank for e-banking system within the bank.
The method used is a descriptive representation of the phenomenon and the collect of quantifiable data that can be statistically verified and analysed to measure the effectiveness of the whole research.
Hence, the qualitative research technique was used as it was concerned with the quality of the data.or kind. This research technique uses in depth interviews for exploring the better view of the situation. It also intends to know about the understanding of people relating to a particular subject or institution (Research Methodology: An Introduction, n.d.).
Moreover, the survey provided important statistical quantitative data to compleiment and confirm the findings presented by qualitative data.
Qualitative research is done with an aim to improve quality and is often considered as ‘Motivational Research’. It also focuses on people’s opinion about particular subjects or institutions (Research Methodology: An Introduction,n.d.).
The statistical survey provides standardized information about the research subject. It is a well-organized way to gather information regarding the understanding of a subject by a large number of respondents. For the purpose of this study, Likert scale, a bipolar scaling method, is used to construct the questionnaire.
Likert scale is used to construct questionnaires to get psychometric replies from the people. It aims at obtaining the degree of agreement or knowing the preferences of the respondents. These scales do not use comparative techniques, but rather evaluate a single feature. The level of agreement has to be shown with the statements in an ordinal scale (Bertram, n.d.).
The Likert Scale is an easy to use system in the surveys. It can be in the form of self- completion questionnaires or can be given as a self-completion part of survey, administered by an interviewer (Brace, 2008). In this system, participants show their agreement on any statement by using different scales. are asked to show their degree of agreement with the given statement.
Likert scale system uses five-point scale system where the respondents have to pick any one option from the given five points. Before the final distribution of the questionnaire, a test research was carried out. For this purpose, 10 copies of questionnaire were sent randomly through email. The aim of the pilot study was to make sure that the questionnaire is easy to understand to the participants. Then the questionnaire was sent to the sample selected for the research.
The design is best suited for this study. The rationale behind the choice of the design is that it studies individuals or objects as whole units and not in parts. The design also investigates tunnel environmental conditions in depth with a view of understanding it more broadly.
The purpose of the study is to study how to increase active customer base of electronic banking services in Qatar bank. the different cultural factors which are influencing UK businesses.
Quantitative research methodology is used because data (perceived effectiveness) being tested in this study was through various sources which support it. The study is guided by the actual data collected from the respondents, and the purpose of the study is to analyze them. Such worldview requires the analysis of the strength of the facts and comments.
This worldview entails a systematic procedure and structure in the research process because it follows a rule-bound approach, which meant that this worldview made use of surveys, content analyses, field experiments, and other assessments that will collect verifiable data (Philimore & Goodson, 2004).
The worldview also entails the focus on data that will reveal trends, patterns, and statistical relationships. A quantitative research methodology will also be used because the method will utilize open –ended questions as well as close questions; pre-determined approaches, and numeric data (Creswell, 2003).
According to Ross (1999), the quantitative method is more frequently associated with using surveys, which entails studying a large number of subjects that is drawn from a specific population. The research design for this study will employ the use of survey questionnaires and analyzing data gathered from the respondents.
The study involved the use of the questionnaires. These were prepared in advance, and the questions were reviewed to find their relevancy in the concept being investigated. The language used in the questionnaires was relativelysimple, which could moderate to be understood by the people and the procedure was understood.
There were some short answers type questions too where the participants had to choose just one answer out of five options.
Population and Sampling Procedure
The population of interest for this study is 20 people working with different banks including Commercial Bank of Qatar. A large no of participants is used in the sample. Since this is a descriptive design, sampling is a significant process because of the need to obtain an accurate representation of the population (Heck, 2004).
Instrumentation
Survey questionnaires were used as the research instrument. The survey was conducted in three ways- a face to face interview, a telephonic interview and through emails. In a face to face interview, all the participants were provided with survey questionnaires in order to determine their perceived level of explaining their views on e-banking platforms and their suggestions for e-banking system. The survey instrument was based on the general type of questions related to their understanding about e-banking and its system.There were two types of questions open-ended and closed, targeting different groups from different banks.
In a telephonic interview similar survey questionnaire was used. Normally telephonic interviews are avoided in the qualitative research as the reliability of data seems not to be very authentic. Also there is much probing required. Though the respondents feel comfortable through a telephonic interview yet, it is perceived that the quality of the data will not be very good (Novick, 2011).
Two sets of the questionnaire were prepared recognizing the different levels of understanding of the situation by the employees and the customers of various banks including Commercial Bank of Qatar.
Reliability
The data collection method that was used needed to be clearly defined and described; in terms of the how instrument has been tested and validated by past studies (Sunderman et al., 2004). The strategy for obtaining good measures for the study involves upholding the relevance and appropriateness of the study for the data collected and the purpose of the study. Thus, the instrument section clearly defined the processes for this method, which will enable future researchers to duplicate the study.
In order to uphold the reliability of this study, the participants were selected according to their various types of nationalities. The questionnaires targeted people from different banks as per the setting of its questions.
Data Collection Procedures
The dissertation captured both primary and secondary data to get proper answers of the research questions. For this study in depth interview was chosen as data collection method. The questionnaire was used for in depth interview. The survey took place at the participants’ work place so they could feel relaxed and comfortable and could answer the questions with their full thoughts, experiences and feelings.
According to Kinnear and Taylor (1979), “In-depth interviews may be defined as an unstructured personal interview which uses extensive probing to get a single respondent to talk freely and to express detailed beliefs and feelings on a topic with little directional influence from the researcher” (as cited in Research Methodology: An Introduction, n.d.).
Each participant was asked 4 open ended and 6 close ended questions. Every question was explained by the researcher to make sure that the respondent understood the question and was comfortable to answer. This survey lasted for half an hour.
Primary data is composed through direct practice. First the researcher gets some insight of the issue by collecting secondary data then primary research is conducted. This process involves many forms such as questionnaires, direct observation and telephonic interviews. Secondary data is an available data and it is collected by others. Secondary data is time saving which one could spend while collecting data. It gives bigger and better data. If any researcher could try to collect on their own, it could be expensive for him.
The main advantage of using secondary data is that it is obvious that background work like literature reviews, any case studies etc have already been done. Uses of texts and other statistics have been done and personal contacts have been consumed. On the other hand, there are some drawbacks to the fact that the researcher is not able to check the data face-to-face so it is difficult to check the reliability of the data.
It was planned how to reach the people for collecting data. The locale of the study was conducted in various Qatar banks. The choice of location was based on how accessible the organisations were to the researcher based on Singleton’s (1993) argument that the ideal setting for any study should be easily accessible to the researcher.
The target groups for this research were the employees as well as customers working with different banks. A sample that is fully representative of attitude and views of people that use e-banking was selected. Sampling is a technique used by researchers to gather information.
It involves selecting individuals or objects from a population or a group for study. The main research instruments to be used in this study were questionnaires. In this case, three sets of questionnaires were prepared for the target groups. These questions targeted many employees and customers of different banks.
After making the survey questionnaire, some people were approached directly but some people of any particular companies were approached through their banks’ administration department which would receive the questionnaire.
The test-retest method was used when one bank was selected. Printed copies of the questionnaire were distributed later. The questionnaire was given to the respondents to fill for a later scoring. The participants were given sufficient time to complete the questionnaire. After one week, the same questionnaire was given to the group for scoring.
Ethic Issues
The qualitative research has different ethical problem in comparison to quantitative research. The ethical conflict occurs in connection to how a researcher approaches a group and what kind of effect he may have on the participants. The main focal point of qualitative research is to define, explore and examine people their likely atmosphere.
Respondents were made aware of the purpose of the study, the researchers agreed not to reveal the identities of the participants and not to disclose their personal information for ethical reasons. All the respondents were made sure that their views on any questions would be kept confidential.
This was to win their trust so the quality of data could be good. A particular time frame of the survey was decided and it was determined that interview time would not exceed from the set time and the respondents would not be stressed except they themselves wanted time for answering questions.
Primary Research Findings
This dissertation presents the finding of the primary research. The primary research was conducted by making questionnaires and those questionnaires were distributed among 20 participants. The participants were divided in two groups. This division was based according to their availability as an employee and as a customer of the bank.
The survey was conducted among 10 people through their administrative department and also by sending them mails. Rest other people were interviewed through telephone and personally. This research was carried out to collect data. Different questions were formed to know the answers from different groups to identify if they were satisfied with e-banking system of their banks. Each participant was explained clearly each and every question.
The results of the interview are shown below:
While asking about the authentication techniques utilized for e-banking in the bank, some employees responded that banking activities are more sensitive than any other internet activities so advanced security standards are required. Normally there are two factors of authentication:
- The user know which could be his password, PIN or pass phrase
- The user has that could be his smart card or if he has any hardware token.
The most common method is user name password but to make it more secure, the bank normally ask for OTP which is One Time Password.
The implementation of the authentication is divided as follow:
- A certificate based approach
- A one-time password approach
- A timer based password approach
- A certificate-smart card based approach
Some respondents mentioned about mutual authentication techniques in their banks. That focuses on the connection between the user and the bank. It actually submits the idea that two parties are authenticating each other. In online authentication processes, mutual authentication is related to website-to-user authentication. It shows that the user is using a valid banking website. In mutual authentication the customer is asked some questions and he chooses an image, its title and a text phrase from some collections of images. These images are provided by the bank when the customer enrols himself with that bank’s website. After first login the customer has the option of replacing the image from the one he chose at the time of enrolment.
When the customer enters login id and password the site asks some questions arbitrarily and after getting the answers, it shows image, title and phrase. If the image shown is right, the customer can log in. If the image shown is not right, the customer does not log in and customer can contact the bank. This is a good way to know for the customer whether the bank site is genuine or fake. This technique between the customer and server is called mutual authentication and it helps in capturing the phishing cases.
Such images are one of the authentication features which can be provided for website authentication. These images actually stop the use of the website of the bank in an unauthorized way and protect the customers from being the victim of any fishing activity.
These images can be saved in three different ways:
- Images saved at the client side
- Images saved at server side
- Images can be separated in two ways- saving some at server side and some at client side and then mixing them by using visual cryptography
While asking about security measures taken by the their banks, some employees answered that first of all, while logging in the Online Banking Service, a secure session is specified by the URL http//.. Also, Secure Sockets Layer Encryption Technology is used to encrypt personal information before the customer leaves his computer. ATM card no or user name and password are used to keep the data confidential. The bank suggests changing the password in every 6 weeks. For security reasons there is time out session if the site is not used for 15 minutes.
The important question related to new products of the bank got quite adequate answer from the respondents. They mentioned that new services like home banking, internet banking, phone banking etc. are being integrated within the banking system. With the rapid increase of e-finance, completely innovated methods of offering financial services like internet banking and other technologies have fused in the financial systems.
Such types are new services are drawing the attention of customer and the bank is generating new customers with a rapid speed. Some employees mentioned that they wanted to have better modules that have the customer register himself from A-Z without employees’ interference.
While asking about the steps taken to attract generation Y customers, they mentioned that banking institutions are constantly engaged in applying diverse techniques to offer substantial services to their customers and to attract more customers to the bank which especially includes generation Y customers. It is vital to consider the generational differences in the process of planning new products.
The primary focus of the present day financial market is GEN-Y that lives a vibrant lifestyle upheld with basic financial products like cards, internet and mobile banking, loans etc. Unlike Generation X, they are not keen on investment or retirement products. Therefore, products should be designed according to their personality, mind-set and standard of living.
They further mentioned that Gen Y’ers are most occupied with mobile banking. Hence, it is important to develop a mobile strategy enabling them to have different options for paying with the smart phone such as making payments by text, through the browser and the mobile app and at the time of sale.
While asking about the benefits of e- banking to some consumers, they mentioned that electronic banking has been effective in transforming the lives of consumers and changing their expectations. Their life has become easier in terms of dealing with banks. The customers do not have to go the bank and wait in a queue. They can easily get money through ATM machines. Though majority of customers are looking for enhancing the electronic banking services and have it more interactive.
While asking the customers of the bank about precise services of their banks, they mentioned that, they have the facility of opening accounts online or on mobile and can easily send money from one place to another. They have up-to-date customer services.
The customers showed their satisfaction for the security measures taken by their banks in e-banking. They believed that their accounts were safe with the bank.
While asking about the difference between e-banking and traditional banking cost, the customer said that the cost of e-banking was lower than traditional banking. They mentioned that e-banking is much more convenient than traditional banking.
For the measures taken by their banks for improving their e-banking services, a few customers said that the financial institutions need to utilize a fundamentally innovative strategic approach to meet the distinguishing needs of the Gen Y consumers. The Gen Y is surpassing the older generation in terms of online banking convenience, confrontation with the conventional marketing and environment related considerations.
Hence, it is important to visualize their requirements in view of larger market benefits. Some of the customers were aware with the initiative taken by a Netherland bank, which has adopted the method of mobile payments for online TV content through banks own micropayment systems called MiniTix. It enabled the users to pay by SMS or mobile Internet for online and TV content. It also offered scenario for monetization of the growing retailing prospects through Internet. These services reverberate with the Gen Y-ers.
Some of them mentioned that the consumers are multi channel users so the banks should focus on creating integrated experience across channels. Banks need to produce appealing offers to magnetize Gen -Y for making them visit the branch. They should be enabled to apply and disburse premiums online.
Moreover, they should be provided the facility of verifying the premium particulars on their mobiles. These advantages attained through e banking may enable the banking institutions to attain popularity among customers and innovate further in capitalizing on these channels.
A few customers were aware of the newly introduced mobile payment platform Boku, which is being well accepted e-banking service around the world. Boku allowed people to pay online with their mobile number. It minimized the efforts made in entering the long credit card numbers for every purchase on the web. The charges reflected on their mobile phone bill so these customers wanted their banks also to adopt such technology to enhance their banks’ e-banking services.
The data taken on likert scale is elaborated below:
The Employees Data for E-banking Service
The above mentioned data shows that 50 percent of the employees said that using mobiles as contact-less payment instruments for executing small transactions is a good practice by banks. 40 percent of the employees showed their appreciation towards the facilities such as online funds transfers, online updates of stock prices and trading in stocks online.
10 percent of the employees showed their appreciation towards the technique of opening an account with the bank using their mobile phone or phone camera. 15 percent of the employees got agreed that using social media to brand the banks is a successful technique.
The Consumer Data for E-banking Service
The above mentioned data shows that 59 percent of the consumers said that using mobiles as contact-less payment instruments for executing small transactions is a good practice by banks. 23 percent of the customers were satisfied with the services like transfer of funds while travelling.
They confirmed that it is very useful to know the stock prices online. 9 percent of the consumers found it interesting to open a bank account with the help of their mobile phone. 10 percent of the customers got agreed that using social media to brand the banks is a successful technique.
References
Research Methodology: An Introduction. Web.
Bertram, D., ‘Likert Scales…are the meaning of life’, CPSC 681 – Topic Report. Web.
Brace, I., 2008, Questionnaire Design: How to Plan, Structure and Write Survey Material for Effective Market Research,2 edn., Kogan Page Publishers, United States.
Phillimore, J. & Goodson, L. 2004, Progress in qualitative research in tourism: Epistemology, ontology and methodology in Qualitative Research in Tourism: Ontologies, Routledge, New York. Web.
Creswell, J. W, 2003, ‘Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches.’ Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
E-banking to sweep Middle East, 2002. Web.