Title: A SWOT analysis of mobile electronic banking: the Zimbabwe case

Authors: Alfandika Nyandoro; Bendick Mahleko

Addresses: School of IT and Computing, Abilene Christian University, ACU Box 29355, TX 79699, USA ' School of Information Systems and Technology, Master's Technology Programs, College of Management and Technology, Walden University, 100 Washington Avenue South, Suite 900, Minneapolis, MN 55401, USA

Abstract: Zimbabwe is presently undergoing a transformative shift from a prevalently cash-based economy, to one using mobile electronic payments. The cash economy had the unintended consequence of excluding a large portion of the population from financial services, particularly banking services. This shift is significant for the economy because it has enabled the informal sector to tap into banking services. The Zimbabwean informal sector has gradually emerged as a major employer owing to economic challenges that have shrunk the formal sector. This reality has motivated mobile telephony companies to introduce innovative financial products targeting this sector. In this paper we use the SWOT framework to analyse the mobile banking sector in Zimbabwe. Our investigation seeks to inform stakeholders about the sector's potential and to caution about weaknesses that impact on stability and growth. We also characterise the processes involved in mobile banking to enable easy comparison of offerings from different service providers.

Keywords: electronic finance; e-finance; mobile banking; m-banking; Zimbabwe; ICT; electronic banking; e-banking; developing countries; SWOT analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEF.2015.070531

International Journal of Electronic Finance, 2015 Vol.8 No.2/3/4, pp.218 - 238

Received: 18 Jan 2014
Accepted: 20 Jan 2015
Published online: 09 Jul 2015 *

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