The quality of e-payment services offered by mobile companies : the Syrian evidence

The recent introductory of e-payment services in Syria and the overwhelming interest of such new services call for thorough investigation of their quality and venues for improvement to unleash their full potential. This study investigates the quality of e-payment services offered by mobile network operators in Syria by adopting the E-SERVQUAL metric based on four dimensions: ease of use, reliability, security and privacy, and responsiveness. This study presents the responses of 133 users of these services in Syria from October to December 2023. The results indicate that e-payment services were of high quality in terms of reliability, security and privacy, and responsiveness dimensions. However, they are of lower quality in terms of ease of use. It is recommended that mobile companies increase the flexibility of e-payment services by widening the top-up options and offering more payment categories as well as relaxing the ceiling set for any single e-payment transaction. These companies were also encouraged to increase the number of kiosk machines to credit customer balances and improve the distribution of these machines into more selective locations. Furthermore, mobile companies may increase their share in the e-payment market by offering rewards and cash discounts for transactions conducted through their e-payment platforms.