Customer preferred channel attributes in multi‐channel electronic banking

The purpose of the study is to increase the understanding of the diverse retail channel preferences of online bank customers by examining their channel attribute preferences in electronic bill paying. Two different groups of online customers were examined: those who pay their bills over the internet and those who, in addition, have experience of using a mobile phone for this service.

A large internet survey was implemented and conjoint analysis was used in order to identify the utilities of the attribute levels and relative importance of the different attributes. Moreover, cluster analysis was used to group the individuals into homogenous attribute preference segments.

The empirical findings indicate that internet users and mobile users differ in their channel attribute preferences. The results suggest coherent customer preference segments in both groups. In addition, the study identifies a group of potential mobile banking users among those who have never used a mobile phone for banking actions.

An internet survey design exposes the study to some limitations. All the respondents were online users of one bank, which implies problems with generalising the results to the whole population. Moreover, the questionnaire was open only for a limited time period, exposing the study to a potential bias.

The study provides new insights for decision makers in the electronic retail sector and especially in banking. The results contribute information for banks' marketing actions and provide indications to device producers of the need for a more diversified supply of devices for diverse consumer groups.