TRUST AS A KEY DRIVER IN E-PAYMENT PLATFORM ACCEPTANCE: INTEGRATING THE TAM FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Trust is a fundamental element in the digital economy, enabling efficient markets and facilitating transactions. This is particularly crucial in the online business environment, where trust plays an even more significant role. Integrating trust with well-known technology acceptance models, such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), provides insights into the relationship between trust, technological acceptance, and consumer behavior. However, to gain a deeper understanding, trust needs to be decomposed into its dimensions.

In this study, we decompose trust into its three dimensions: integrity, benevolence, and ability. We investigate how these dimensions interact with the key constructs of the technology acceptance model to explain consumers' intentions to engage in a business relationship with e-payment systems. Embracing innovative technologies, especially in financial services, has become a major focus of research. Previous studies have explored factors influencing users' decision to adopt innovation and how users' perceptions of innovative technologies affect their acceptance and usage.

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been widely used to predict IT acceptance, usage intentions, and behavior. Building upon the TAM, our research aims to enrich the model by integrating the trust construct. We recognize that several e-payment techniques, such as e-banking and online retailing, have transformed business operations by enabling rapid, easy, and reliable financial and information exchange. However, despite the advantages of e-payments, consumers in developing countries remain hesitant to disclose sensitive financial data online, primarily due to concerns about trust, cybercrime, internet fraud, and perceived lack of security.

To address this issue, our study proposes a framework that incorporates trust into e-payment acceptance, drawing on the TAM model. By developing this model, we aim to enhance consumer confidence in e-payment systems and contribute to financial inclusion within the financial ecosystem. This research fills a gap in understanding consumer skepticism toward electronic payment platforms and provides valuable insights for improving trust and adoption of e-payment systems.