Internet banking adoption strategies for a developing country: the case of Thailand

Purpose - The objective of the paper is to identify the factors that encourage consumers to adopt internet banking services in Thailand and to use the study's findings to develop strategies for banks on how to maximize the rate of adoption. Design/methodology/approach - Quantitative research with a sample size of 600 achieved by sending questionnaires to 15 people in each of 40 large companies in Bangkok. The study is based on the Decomposed Planned Behaviour. Findings - The attitudinal factors that appear to encourage the adoption of internet banking in Thailand most are "Features of the web site" and "Perceived usefulness", while the most significant impediment to adoption is a perceived behavioural control, namely "External environment". The significant moderating factors are gender, educational level, income, internet experience and internet banking experience, but not age. Research limitations/implications - In this study, encouragement factors are those that are able to be controlled by banks, while impediment factors are those that are not able to be controlled. Practical implications - It is essential for banks to facilitate encouragement and restrict impediment factors. In addition to the direct "push" from internet banks (in respect of the encouragement factors), indirect persuasion should be carried out as a "pull" mechanism (in respect of the impediment factors). Originality/value - The study identified a number of specific strategies that Thai banks could follow to maximize the adoption of internet banking.