New issues and challenges facing e-banking in rural areas: an empirical study

This paper describes an empirical study of investigating recent trend and development of the application of e-banking (banking though internet) in rural areas and its economic impact on local financial institutions. The data used in this research are collected through a web-based questionnaire survey. The research objective is to investigate how those smaller and community banks located in rural areas have attempted to catch up with their counterparts in larger cities in terms of the application of e-banking, focusing on emerging issues and challenges. The results are discussed with managerial implications along with suggestions for future research.