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. A study conducted in the United States
expressed that the younger generation use debit cards way more than older generations and that the
main reason for debit card usage is convenience (Borzekowski, Kiser and Ahmed, 2006). Another
study conducted in Rwandan commercial banks found that factors such as responsiveness, reliability
and assurance greatly increased customer satisfaction in e-banking (Annet Murekatete and Twesigye,
2024). Another research showed that student use debit cards had a positive effect on their
consumption behaviour because of increased efficiency of making payments and the number of
promos and discounts offered by banks (Fatmasari et al., 2019).

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

Research Questions

 How effective are debit cards in delivering satisfaction to MCA students?

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. This study can also be informative to other college students
who have been wondering whether to get debit cards or not as it clearly outlines the benefits and any
disadvantages with using them. It also quantifies the satisfaction of current users allowing for a less
biased rating as compared to if they asked people they were in close contact with only. This research
can also help policy makers develop strategies to promote and regulate debit card usage and cashless
transactions as a whole.

Limitations

The following are some of the challenges I will face when carrying out my research:

Time constraints. There will not be enough adequate time to comfortably collect, analyze and report
the data and findings. To overcome this, critical areas of the research will be prioritized to ensure the
research is completed on time.

Sample size. The sample will only be taken from MCA students which may not fully be representative
of the general population of college students. To combat this, an effort will be made to select students
from different years and programs to promote diversity

Data collection. The data collected will be based on subjective experiences, which may be biased due
to exaggeration or omission of certain details. To overcome this a mixed methods approach will be
used which will include secondary data from bank reports to increase reliability of findings.