Branchless banking in rural Malawi: Potential customers' perspective on bank-led mobile banking

Branchless banking is a distribution channel used for delivering financial services without necessarily relying on constructing bank branches. This offers customers the ability to conduct banking transactions at a whole range of retail agents instead of accessing banking services at bank branches. The study attempted to answer the question on whether Branchless banking can be used to reach the unbanked and underbanked rural areas in Malawi. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire that was developed based on the three main dimensions of the Technology Acceptance model, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use and Attitude towards use, and the two main requirements in branchless banking; Availability of Telecommunication Infrastructure and retail agents. The sample was drawn from a population in unbanked rural areas. The results shows that Branchless banking is feasible in the unbanked rural areas in Malawi.