Investigating the use of E- Banking activities during the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria

Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID-19) was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global pandemic and required certain safety precautions. These included wearing of face masks, washing of hands, and keeping necessary social distances between people. It is observed that most individuals did not follow these safety measures. For instance, during the pandemic, people did not adhere to the safety precautions of wearing face masks and social distancing. Also noticed was the large crowd at every bank branch, hence the question, why did people engage in physical banking amidst the deadly pandemic. Therefore, this research seeks to study the customer perception of Electronic Banking (E–banking) activities during the covid-19 era. The study focuses on five bank branches within the Ilorin metropolis. Data was obtained using structured questionnaires which was administered to sampled respondents, and analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results of the analyses showed that bank customers are aware that Covid-19 can be contracted from going to the bank to queue among the crowd. However, they had no choice due to constraints to the use of E-banking services. This study provided recommendations toward solving the challenges discovered to adequately safeguard both the system operators and the general public while using E-banking systems and services.