The impact of financial innovations on service delivery to university students: A case study of Masai Mara University in Narok County

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out the impact of financial innovations on service delivery to the University student market segment; the study was focused on the financial innovations on their process products, and institution and on how it has affected service delivery to the end users Descriptive survey method was used to collect data; this data was collected from undergraduate university students of Maasai Mara University in Narok County in Narok town. This data was analyzed using simple tables, percentages, graphs, and charts. The findings indicate that financial innovation especially agency banking provided by the financial institutions and mobile network operators in Kenya has significantly influenced service delivery to the students. The state-of-the-art is not only convenient but it has helped on saving time that was otherwise used in traveling, queuing in banking. The cost is equally reduced since there is less or no transport cost. The transactions are reliable, real time yet with low cost, the agents work for long hours as compared to the old ways of banking. Conversely, the negative impacts are; system failure or network failure, insufficient liquidity or float or lack of it. Customers are exposed to risk of cyber fraud and wire fraud. Transaction errors are, taking too long to reverse or to correct errors, sometime the operators may lack the required skills or expert knowledge to operate the machines and use of the new technology of the agent banking hence leading to customer dissatisfaction hence impacting negatively to the end user in this case the university students. I will recommend further study to be done on the effect of agency banking on service delivery to customers, the effect of financial innovations on the financial performance, the effect of financial innovation process on service delivery to customers and on the effect of financial innovation on the mobile network providers' financial performance. Carrying on these researches will enable the financial providers and mobile operators to solve the challenges facing them and enable them to come up with other new innovations to serve the customers efficiently, this will also help the government to come up with legislations governing financial innovations, money transfer cyber crime fraud and other policies protecting the customers and ensuring better service delivery and monitoring the financial providers and mobile network operators.