Is technology truly improving the customer experience? Analysing the intention to use open banking in Indonesia

Abstract

PurposeOpen banking, with its promise to revolutionise electronic transactions through open application programming interfaces (APIs), aims to bridge the gap between banks and non-banks, enhancing lending, payments, investments and funds distribution. However, does this bold innovation truly resonate with consumers? This study delves into consumer intentions to adopt open banking in Indonesia by leveraging the technology readiness model, scrutinising its antecedents and moderating factors, and identifying the key attributes that users anticipate.Design/methodology/approachThrough quantitative and qualitative approaches, this study answers the following questions: (1) Are financial service users ready to use open banking/open API applications? (2) What are the key attributes that consumer expects of open banking/open API? First, the authors developed a structural model based on the technology readiness model, distributed the questionnaire in eight major cities in Indonesia, analysed it using PLS-SEM and utilised a machine learning approach to unpack the main attributes expected from open banking.FindingsThis study’s findings indicate that customers are generally prepared to embrace open banking innovations. Nonetheless, to enhance public acceptance, certain factors should be emphasised, including organisational support, user-friendly technology, a comprehensive range of features, consumer financial literacy and banks' readiness to adopt open banking. In contrast to prior research, this study reveals that loyalty to traditional banking positively moderates the connection between customer value and the intention to utilise open banking. Additionally, the authors did not observe a significant moderating effect of financial literacy on the relationship between perceived customer value and the intention to use open banking.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the few that comprehensively analyses the consumers' readiness for open banking in developing contexts. This study is expected to produce a theoretical contribution as well as effective and optimal policies for the financial services sector.