DEVELOPMENT OF E-BANKING WEBSITE QUALITY EVALUATION MODEL USING FUZZY ANALYTICS HIERARCHY PROCESS

Abstract

E-banking enables user to access banking services virtually on various forms such as home banking, personal computer (PC) banking, Internet banking and mobile banking. Therefore, several benefits are offered including convenience, ease to use, low cost, time factor, fast delivery and online bill payment. Majority of banking institutions have implemented Internet banking systems in an effort to reduce costs while increasing the level of service to customers. Studies have revealed that, high e-banking website quality experiences is capable of increasing customers’ optimal patronage and retention. However, the process of determining e-banking website quality is highly critical, which involves complex multi-criteria decision-making process. This study develops of e banking website quality evaluation model using fuzzy AHP (FAHP). This FAHP is a typical Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) technique that introduces logic and science to decision making in multi-criteria settings through a hierarchical structure of the best combinations of five criteria/ 11 sub-criteria for evaluating e- banking websites quality. The study administered structured questionnaire on 50 customers of money deposit bank accounts with history of e-banking websites usage in Minna, Niger State using a non-random sampling method to gather the data. It was found that, of all selected criteria for evaluating e-banking website quality, e-satisfaction and product quality had least impact. While, the e-loyalty, ease of use, and e-trust criteria at normalized weights of 30.21%, 25.41%, and 15.69% were three-topmost most impactful. Particularly on sub criteria, website content, vagueness, and website design at normalized weights of 17.85%, 14.02%, and 11,72% were ranked top three sub-criteria in evaluating e-banking websites quality. The ranking of the alternatives in the order of magnitude were First Bank, Fidelity Bank, Sterling Bank, and Stanbic IBTC Bank, which is consistent with profit margins. The outcomes of the AHP and FAHP models are closely correlated in terms of the weights of criteria and alternatives considered. This study is vital in banking industry so as to ensure that the quality of their websites given needed priority in order to improve customer’s satisfaction.