Turkey’s e-commerce market is rapidly expanding, and the country is ranked first in the world in monthly mobile purchases. The factors that influence the adoption of online payments systems among the customers of a Turkish bank during the COVID-19 pandemic was determined. The research model extends the technology acceptance model (TAM) by further examining the impact of 11 factors on attitude, behavioral intention and actual usage. The results suggest a strong influence of these factors on attitude and behavioral intention. Relative advantage, perceived trust, perceived usefulness, personal innovativeness, perceived integrity, perceived ease of use, health and epidemic effects, income, private sector employment and self-employment all have a positive effect on actual online payment system usage. However, perceived risk and age have a negative impact on the actual online payment system usage.
1. Introduction
The concept of e-commerce evolved as internet usage increased, and financial technology advancement first appeared on e-commerce platforms. The rise of financial technologies (fintech) has increased in recent years. Financial technology is now widely used in a variety of applications, the most prominent of which are online payment systems. Due to technological advances, the process of transitioning from cash to card payments and then from card payments to online payments has accelerated. Digital payments are defined as any payments made using digital instruments. In digital payment, the payer and the payee both use electronic modes to send and receive money. No hard cash is used (
Kumar 2019). The online payment method is called the methods of payments made through the internet. These methods are the money order/electronic fund transfer (EFT) method, mobile wallet method, online wallet method, credit card, debit card (debit card), prepaid cards and virtual cards (
Khan et al. 2017). Payments made with card payment systems are now the most common electronic payment option. Card payment methods are non-cash payments for goods or services made with cards linked to an account. The two most common types of card payment instruments are debit cards and credit cards (
Sumanjeet 2009). Mobile payment refers to the payment of goods, services and invoices using a mobile device that uses wireless and other communication technologies. Mobile payment can also be expressed as a channel that is used to enable users to perform their financial transactions accurately and in a timely manner (
Meharia 2012). The amount after the payment transaction is completed in these transactions is made available via mobile phone. It is reflected on the customer’s invoice (payment made on postpaid lines) or via e-money, which is uploaded to the phone after the funds have previously been transferred to the customer’s organization account (prepaid lines) (
Magnier-Watanabe 2014).
Turkey led the market in monthly mobile transactions in 2016 (
Interactive Advertising Bureau 2016). According to
J.P. Morgan (
2020), Turkish e-commerce has seen excellent revenue growth in recent years: in 2018, the market increased by 42 percent, followed by 31 percent in 2019. Currently, 67 percent of the Turkish population makes online purchases (
We Are Social 2022). Turkey is a growing e-commerce market, with excellent sales growth over the last three years. Consumer behavior is fast changing as a younger generation uses cellphones and social media to find and buy things. Cards are the most commonly used online payment option in Turkey. Card usage is increasing, and by 2023, cards will account for 71% of all transactions. According to projections, e-commerce volume will more than double in dollars by 2025 (
Statista 2021). Consumption expenditures decreased in the early months of the epidemic due to concern for the future, but online payments increased significantly during the quarantine process (
Kalkan 2021). As of October 2020, 74.8 million credit cards and 183.4 million debit cards, for a total of 258.2 million cards, were used in Turkey, representing a 52 percent increase in card payment volume over the same period in 2019. The proportion of online card payments in total card payments increased from 18% to 22% (
BKM 2020). Given that the epidemic is not expected to cause a significant decline in income elements in the short-term, card payments made over the internet are expected to rise. It has been concluded that the growth in card payments made via the internet is not solely due to constraints, but also due to the epidemic’s effect on payment and shopping habits, and that the increase is projected to continue growing in the future.
2. Next-Generation Payment Instruments
Mobile payment is a relatively recent development in comparison to other financial technological advancements. With the proliferation of smartphones, financial service providers have the opportunity to improve business efficiency and market share. Financial users have more favorable access to financial products. While the benefits of this new financial service are numerous, usage has not yet reached the anticipated level. While mobile phone subscriptions account for 96% of the global population, mobile phone users account for 8% of the global population (
Shaikh and Karjaluoto 2015). It is seen that the number of people using mobile payment systems is quite low compared to the number of mobile phones registered in the world. On the other hand, this situation shows that there are still new opportunities in terms of developing and marketing these payment systems. In recent years, electronic payment systems have begun to replace cash payment methods. With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the entire world in 2020, online purchasing became more popular, and the demand for next-generation payment tools increased. Recent studies include QR digital payment system adoption (
Jiang et al. 2021), e-money (
Fabris 2019;
Omodero 2021) and central bank digital currencies (
Náñez Alonso et al. 2020;
Náñez Alonso et al. 2021;
Cunha et al. 2021).
Table 1 addresses the most recent generation of electronic payment instruments, whose use has expanded recently.
Table 1. Next-Generation Payment Instruments.
3. Factors Affecting the Adoption of Online Payment Systems
The adoption of online payments services is measured with the attitude, behavioral intention and actual usage. Attitude is defined as the consumer’s degree of positive and negative judgments of the fintech service (
Ajzen 2002). An individual’s attitude can be defined as his or her assessment of his or her readiness to use a particular system (
Lederer et al. 2000). Attitude is influenced by the individual’s prior experiences, as well as the situation in which he finds himself, and it can change over time. As a result, it influences the proclivity to behave in a particular way (
Pazvant 2017). Numerous studies have shown that an individual’s attitude has a direct and significant effect on their behavioral intention to use a specific e-application (
Moon and Kim 2001;
Püschel et al. 2010;
George 2002;
Zheng and Li 2020). The subjective judgments of consumers regarding the likelihood of their willingness to use the fintech Service in the future can be expressed as behavioral intention (
Ajzen 2002). The main dependent variable in TAM studies is the intention to use, which is defined as an individual’s likelihood of using technology (
Venkatesh et al. 2003). Behavioral intention is an individual’s ability to perform a specific behavior and is the determinant of the behavior. According to the technology acceptance model, perceived usefulness and attitude influence behavioral intention (
Fishbein and Ajzen 1975;
Davis et al. 1989). Factors included in this entry are defined in
Table 2.
Table 2. Factors Affecting the Adoption of Online Payment Systems.