The mediating impact of demonetisation on customer acceptance for IT-enabled banking services

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the mediating role of demonetisation in the usage of IT-enabled banking services (ITeBS). The study extends the theory of technology readiness (TR) (Parasuraman and Colby, 2015) by incorporating the behavioural intention and actual usage of ITeBS. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the theory of TR and encompassing the impact of demonetisation, the study examines the functional relationship of TR, behavioural intention and actual usage. Structural equation modelling and mediation analysis are applied on a data set of 474 usable responses. Findings: The study confirms that TR is a significant factor in customer’s intention to use ITeBS. The demonetisation variable fully mediates the relationship model, which implies a significant finding in the consumer acceptance literature. Practical implications: The result of this study proposes three major implications. Primarily, the banks should focus on providing simple and user-friendly ITeBS interface and its uninterrupted access. It is necessary to educate the customers by giving them a trial of the service. Furthermore, social media platforms may be utilised as an effective and efficient tool to resolve customer complaints. Originality/value: This study is first of the attempts to investigate government’s digital push in the technology adoption literature. The results indicate significant influence of demonetisation on the usage of ITeBS.