Chapter One
Introduction
With the increased development of technology in recent years as well as the shifting mindset
towards holding large sums of cash, debit cards have provided a viable alternative for
convenient transacting. This research aims to focus on the effectiveness of debit cards in
delivering satisfaction to customers, specifically students at MCA when it comes to
transacting on a daily basis. This can help provide insight to banks on how this specific
demographic of their customer base perceive their products allowing for them to implement
change and improvement. Satisfaction of banking products such as debit cards can be
ascertained in many ways, such as looking at the depth of usage, width of usage, and growth
of usage which can inform the bank on whether their product is underperforming or not. The
research will be conducted on the Blantyre MCA main campus and will involve students who
have experience with the use of debit cards.
Background to the study
There have been many studies relating to the customer’s satisfaction of debit cards all across
the globe, however, to the emergence of other digital products and the like, less studies are
being conducted.
Debit cards first came into usage around the 1960s when a bank in the United States launched
a pilot project of the product. From then on, other countries in America also adopted the debit
card and later on it spread across to other countries. Now, debit cards have become so
prevalent in out economies that they have surpassed the use of banking cheques in many
countries. There has also been a noticeable decrease in cash transactions globally. Although
widespread, the development of these debit cards in different countries happened in isolation
from each other, leading to incompatibility of one country’s system with another. However,
many initiatives have been made to allow for compatibility. In Malawi, there are network
systems such as VISA and Mastercard which provide the relevant infrastructure for
processing transactions, they are also accepted in over 200 countries and territories. Banks
such as the National bank of Malawi leverage these systems in order to produce the debit
cards that are used by customers. The quality provided by this product is what will be
assessed in this research as whether or not it delivers satisfaction to students at MCA.
MCA is an undergraduate college that offers degree programs in areas such as Banking,
Accounting, Marketing, etc. It has three branches in the major cities of Malawi and has been
accredited by NCHE as an institution qualified to provide an opportunity to provide higher
learning to those who seek it. It is at this institution that the research will be conducted.
Statement of Research Problem
Debit cards are a financial product that essentially allows the user to carry their bank
account in their pocket. It allows the customer to transact more freely at markets with POS
through the use of a plastic card which is connected to the bank account allowing for transfer
of funds available in the account to occur. However, things do not always pan out as
smoothly as described. This is because customers may face many difficulties while using
debit cards such as poor connectivity, misplacement of debit cards, durability of debit cards,
poor customer service and many more. All these things create a negative experience
associated with the product and all these need to be analysed when it comes to assessing
the satisfaction of customers. This research, although conducted multiple times before, can
still be quite insightful by focusing on a much more niche perspective by considering the
subjective experiences of MCA students with using debit cards. In the research conducted
by AFROZA PARVIN, they found that in Bangladesh the weighted mean value for all the
factors that affect satisfaction was 70.30%. This represented a value of 4 out of 5 on the
Linkert scale meaning customers are satisfied. This research will thereby focus on the
capability of debit cards to satisfy the needs of MCA students.
Research Objectives
The general objective of this research is examine the effectiveness of debit cards on bringing
satisfaction to MCA students.
The specific objectives of the research are:
To assess the effectiveness of debit cards in delivering satisfaction to MCA students
To explore the benefits associated with using debit cards for transactions
To analyse the challenges that come from adopting debit cards in daily life
Research Questions
How effective are debit cards in delivering satisfaction to MCA students?
What are the benefits associated with using debit cards for daily transactions?
What are the challenges that come from using debit cards in daily life?
Significance of the study
This study is important as it can act as a source of information that can be generalized to
apply to other Malawians in the same demographic. This can give banks insightful
information as to how Gen Zs perceive the debit cards and can help them implement the
necessary changes in order to ensure that their satisfactions are met. This can in turn
increase the profitability of banks because the more customers are satisfied, the more they
will use the product and become ambassadors of the bank, getting others to use the product
as well.
Limitations
The following are some