An Assessment of the impact of mobile payments on the adoption of e-Government services in Kenya: a case study of eCitizen
Date
2018
Authors
Wasunna, Nicholas
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
In its decade of existence, mobile money has achieved higher adoption and usage rate in Kenya than any other country globally, allowing citizens to make payments for services in nearly all sectors. One such service is the e-Government platform, eCitizen, launched in 2014 by the Government of Kenya to offer centralized government services digitally. The platform has over 4 million unique registered citizens making 9 in every 10 payments through mobile money, which has nearly 8 times as many registered accounts. The government is yet to harness the opportunity mobile payments may have in driving adoption of its services, coupled with the high internet and smartphone penetration in the country. The study investigates the impact and relationship between mobile money payments and the adoption of government services offered on the eCitizen platform. Data was collected through administrative questionnaires and face to face interviews with citizens and senior managers at Government Digital Services and 3 mobile money service providers offering payments on eCitizen, who were purposively selected. The results of the study revealed that citizens do not look to mobile money payments as a reason to register onto eCitizen and use it to get government services digitally. However, they perceive mobile money to provide a positive user experience compared to other methods of payment. This was influenced by its speed, efficiency and affordability, with further positive impact created by aggressive marketing by mobile payment providers for a service that was already mandated by the government.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Business Administration at Strathmore University
Keywords
eCitizen, Mobile money, Payments, Adoption, Government services