The Role of Online Trust in the Mobile Banking Decision-Making Model

This research paper aims to investigate the role of online trust in the decision-making process for using mobile banking services. The significance of the study stems from the increasing popularity of this remote banking option, as well as the absence of a comprehensive understanding of the stages in the decision-making journey and the factors that influence this decision. Furthermore, there is ongoing debate among scholars regarding the role of online trust within this process, with some arguing that it acts as a mediator and others contending that it functions as a separate predictor, alongside other factors that influence the decision to utilize the bank's app. To address the existing ambiguity, a sequential exploratory approach was employed in this research. Initially, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with diverse segments of the mobile banking user population.They made it possible to identify the stages of the decision-making process regarding the use of financial institutions' applications and compare them with the stages of online trust formation. Based on the results of the interviews, it was also possible to identify a set of factors that form the basis for the decision-making model and the tools used to compile an online survey. The survey results were analyzed using partial least squares regression, revealing the mediating role of online trust. In particular, it was found to be significantly influenced by factors such as: awareness, perception of service quality, perception of security, perception of application quality, perceived usefulness of the application, reputation of the bank, and accessibility of the banking services. Online trust in mobile banking, in turn, plays a significant role in influencing the decision to use a financial institution's application.