Adopting Digital Signatures for Complex Financial Products in the French Banking Sector: How Technology Acceptance and User Literacy Matter

The advent of digital banking has transformed the financial landscape. However, the uptake of complex financial products (CFPs) with digital signatures (DSs) in European banks remains unexplored and warrants in-depth investigation. In this article, we address the gap by examining the online acquisition of CFPs, focusing on factors beyond the conventional parameters. By integrating the technology acceptance model (TAM), user literacy, and the dimension of human interaction, we analyze client acceptance of DSs in CFP transactions. We present an analysis of qualitative data from 716 clients of a French bank. Our findings reveal that DS adoption for CFPs hinges on TAM variables, combined with perceived risk, trust, and the levels of digital and financial literacy, along with the aspect of human interaction. We propose a novel risk management approach that blends the traditional risk management with client–bank coproduction, advocating for a collaborative model of risk sharing facilitated by DSs. Our article details the theoretical framework, methodology, findings, and discussions and concludes by offering theoretical insights, managerial recommendations, limitations, and avenues for future research.