THE IMPACT OF ELECTRONIC BANKING ON THE ECONOMY (A STUDY OF UNITY BANK PLC)

Electronic banking has become an important practice among commercial banks in Nigeria. The introduction of this electronic banking helps improve banking efficiency in rendering services to customer, it was in line with this that the study aim at examine the impact of electronic banking in Nigeria. Questionnaire was employed in the course of gathering data for the study and administered on to employees, while chi-square was used in data analysis. The result indicated that, modern e-banking has contributed greatly to the growth and development of banks. The bank has an effective electronic banking which has improve its customer’s relationship and satisfaction. The study concludes that for the efficient operations of banking services, modern e-banking technology is necessary and recommends among others, the training of staff to acquire the modern tools of e-banking, bank management addressing the problem of power supply in their organisations, wide area network, electronic file transfer, intensification of enlightenment programmes, and others, for the necessary legal codes banking should be established in order to enhanced growth of the industry in the country.

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The new millennium brought with it new possibilities interms of information access and availability simultaneously, introducing new challenges in protecting sensitive information from someone eyes while making it available to others. Today’s business environment is extremely dynamic and experience rapid changes as a result of technological improvement, increased awareness and demands Banks to serve their customers electronically. Banks have traditionally been in the forefront of harnessing technology to improve their product and services.

The Banking industry of the 21stcentury operates in a complex and competitive environment characterized by these changing conditions and highly unpredictable economic climate. Information and communication technology (ICT) is at the centre of this global change curve of electronic banking economy in Nigeria today. (Stevens 2002). Assert that they have over the time, been using electronic and telecommunication networks for delivering a wide range of value added products and services, managers in banking industry in Nigeria cannot ignore information system because they play a critical impact in current Banking System, they point out that the entire cash flow of most fortune Banks are linked to information system.

The application of information and communication technology concepts, techniques, policies and implementation strategies to banking services has become a subject of fundamental importance and concerns to all banks and indeed a prerequisite for local and global competitiveness banking.

The advancement in technology has played an important role in improving service delivery standards in the banking industry. In its simplest form, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and deposit machines now allow consumers carry out banking transactions beyond banking hours. With online banking, individuals can check their account balance and make payments without having to go to the bank hall.

This is gradually creating a cashless society where consumers no longer have to pay for all their purchases with hand cash. For example: bank customers can pay for airline tickets and subscribe to initial public offerings by transferring the money directly from their account, or pay for various goods and services by electronic transfers of credit to the sellers account. As most people now mobile phones, banks have also introduced mobile banking to cater for customers who are always on the  move. Mobile banking allows individuals to check their account balances and make fund transfers using their mobile phones. This was popularized by First Atlantic Bank (now First Inland Bank) through its “Flash me cash” product customers can also recharge their mobile phones via SMS. The delivery channels to day in Nigeria electronic banking are quite numerous has it is mentioned here Automatic Teller Machine (ATM), Point of Sales (POS), Telephone Banking, Smart cards, Internet Banking etc personal computers in the banking industry was first introduced into Nigeria by society general bank as the popular PC easy access to the internet world wide web (www) and internet is increasingly used by Banks as a channel of delivering the products and services to the all banks in Nigeria have a web presence; this form of Banking is referred to as internet Banking which is generally part of electronic Banking. The delivery of products by banks on public domains is an indication of advertisement which is known as e-commerce. Electronic commerce on the other hand is a general term for any the internet. This covers a range of different types of business from consumers to retails products. However, electronic banking as it is; is a product of e-commerce in the field of banking and financial services. It’s offers different online services like balance enquiry, request for cheque books, recording stop payment instructions, balance transfer instructions, account opening and other form of traditional banking services. The internet allows business to use information more effectively, by allowing customers suppliers, employees and partners to get access to the business information they need, when they need it. These internets – enabled services all to translate to reduced cost: there are less overhead, greater economies of scale, and increased efficiency. E-Banking greatest promise is timelier, more valuable information accessible to mere people, at reduced cost of information access. With the changes in business operations as a result of the internet era, security concerns more from computer labs to the front page of newspapers. The promise of e-banking is offset by the security challenges associated with the disintermediation of data access. One security challenges results from “cutting out the middleman” that too often cuts out the information security the middleman provides. Another is the expansion of the user community from a small group of know, vetted users accessing data from the intranet, to thousands of users accessing data from the internet. Application Service Provides (ASP) and exchange offer especially stringent and sometimes contradictory – requirements of per user and per customer security, while allowing secure data sharing among communities of interest. E-banking depends on providing customers, partners, and employee with access to information, in a way that is controlled and secure. Technology must provide security to meet the challenges encountered by e-banking. Virtually all software and hardware vendors claim to build secure products, but what assurance does it – e-banking have of a product’s security? E-banking want a clear answer to the conflicting security claims they hear from vendors. How can you be confident about the security into a product? Independent security evaluation against internationally – established security criteria provide assurance of vendors security claims.

Security criteria provide assurance of vendors security claims.

Customer expectation, in terms of service delivery and other key factors have increased dramatically in recent years, as a result of the promise and delivery of the internet-even after the “dot-com crash” these raised expectations linger.

The growth in the application and acceptance of internet-driven technologies means that delivery an enhanced services is more achievable than ever before, however it is also more complex and frequent with potential cost and risk. The internet introduce customers to a new perception of business time as always “on available 24/7 and demanding an urgent and rapid response. The challenge for managers is to reconcile their business and their own personal perception of time with the perceived reality of internet time. The internet has decisively shifted the balance of power to the customer.

The internet is revolutionizing sales techniques and perceptions of leading brands, and the internet is intensifying competition in all its forms.

Banking are continuing to use the internet to add value for their customer, but in order for this to work effectively – maximizing opportunities, reducing risks and overcoming problems – an – e-banking strategy is required as an impact.

The growth of the web and internet as new channels, the growth in their use by customers and the floor of companies entering the market, presents a series of key challenges to companies. It is easy and cheap to put up a website. But to create an environment delivering effective services on the web to a significant proportion of your customer base requires an e-banking strategy.

Electronic Banking offers different online services like balance enquiry request for cheque books, recording stop payment instructions, balance transfer instructions, account opening and other form of transitional banking services.

In Nigeria, customers of banks today are no longer about safety of their funds and increase returns on their investments only. Customers demand efficient, fast and convenient services customers want a bank that will offer them services that will meet their particular needs (personalized banking) and support their business goals for instance; businessmen want to travel without carryout cash for security reasons. They want to be able to check their balance online, find out if a cheque is cleared, transfer funds among accounts and event want to download transaction records into their own computer at work or home. Customers want a preferential treatment and full attention by their choice bank. All these are only achievable through electronic banking.

In line with rendering qualities and acceptable services that most bank in Nigeria are gearing toward and investing large sum of money in information and communication technology, expected such banks services have been improved United Bank for Africa (UBA), Zenith Bank, CitiBank (to mention few) are in the forefront in the use of ATM rendering services to their customers (The Guardian Newspaper April 18, 2008 p 21), It also seeks the challenges involved in electronic banking and best industrial practice and the approach of implementing them in Nigeria Banking System.

The main objective of this research work is to examine impact of electronic banking in Nigeria, banking system on how difference channels could enhance the delivery of consumers and retails products, and also how banks choose to support their electronic banking component/services internally, such as internet services provider, internet banking software, core banking vendor, managed security service, bill payment provider, credit business and credit scoring company, e-banking systems rely on a number of common components or process.

The following hypotheses are formulated in null to guild the study.

Hu: Electronic banking does not have prospect in unity bank.

Hu: Electronic banking does not impact in unity bank plc.

Hu: Adoption of electronic banking does enhance the fortune of unity bank plc.

Hu: Electronic banking does not improve bank customer relationship.

Hu: The bank electronic banking guideline does not comply with the CBN electronic banking guideline.

The study would enable the banks executives and indeed the policy makers of the banks and financial institutions to be aware of electronic banking as a product of electronic commerce with a view to making strategic decisions. The research is equally significant because it would provide answers to factors militating against the implementation of electronic banking in Unity Bank plc, prove the success and growth associated with implementation of electronic banking highlight the areas of banking operations that can be enhanced via electronic banking and also be an invaluable tool for students, academician, institutions, corporate managers and individuals that want to know more about electronic banking trends especially in Nigeria.

In pursuance of the objective of the study; attention shall be focused on electronic banking among other electronic commerce implementation. In order to conduct an empirical investigation into the adoption of electronic banking in the economy and will also examine the nature of electronic banking operations.

In view of the technicalities involved, it would be unrealistic to assume that all necessary facts have been gathered in the process of the study. Information gathered is limited to those accesses and made available by the respondents and also those gathered from end users. However, the impacts of this limitation will be reduced to the barest minimum.