A Study on Influencing Factors on Internet Banking Usage During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Romania

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to present and analyze the evolutions of Internet Banking in the conditions of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic crisis in Romania throughout 2020 considering the typology of respondents in correlation with their needs and requirements for the characteristics and types of Internet Banking services available. The research design was based on a statistical analysis both quantitative and qualitative, following the motivational and attitudinal changes in the use of Internet Banking services as a result of the manifestations of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic crisis. As a primary tool, it was a questionnaire consisting of a series of questions of a general nature, but also directed to the purpose of the research, in a total of 25 questions. The questions asked to achieve the purpose of the research concerned the influencing factors regarding the use of Internet Banking before and during the pandemic, the restrictions imposed by the bank as a result of the pandemic crisis that influenced the use of Internet Banking, the types of Internet Banking services most often used before and during the pandemic, as well as the level of money spent on Internet Banking and electronic devices used for this purpose. The results presented by the authors as a result of the research undertaken highlighted as factors with a positive influence on the use of Internet Banking during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic crisis in Romania in 2020 as avoiding the queues at the bank counter, availability 24/7 of this service, time economy, and restrictions imposed by the banks while as factors with negative influence were shown to be the problems related to access to this type of service limited internet access, technical problems, long time to complete transactions, security issues. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.