Mobile Banking Service Design Attributes for the Sustainability of Internet-Only Banks: A Case Study of KakaoBank

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

1.       Introduction, : lack of reference, (line 30-46 ;  54-67) please add reference to support argumentation. show the specific research gap , before line 74  

2.       Theoretical Framework : line 97-114 ,  line 163-174, please add reference to support theory

3.       Sample and Data Collection : please more detail about Sampling Methods  (probability or non probability)

4.       Study Results : please add reference (previous research) to support Results .

5.        Reference : please , add with new research (he last 1-3 years)

Author Response

Response Letter

This document contains detailed responses to the suggestions and insights of the reviewers. We sincerely thank all reviewers for taking the time to appraise our manuscript with a view to helping us improve its quality and contributions.

REVIEWER 1

(1) Introduction: lack of reference, (line 30-46; 54-67) please add reference to support argumentation. show the specific research gap, before line 74.

Response 1: Thank you for your valuable feedback. We have referred to the literature suggested by the reviewer and revised our manuscript accordingly. In addition, we have incorporated the suggested studies as references in the manuscript.

We have updated the references on page 1 (lines 30-46 and 54-67) to address the concerns raised:

• Moniruzzaman, M., & Wu, R. (2021). The emergence of digital banking accelerated by COVID-19: Modeling the adoption of mobile banking for small business. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 26(3), 128-237.
• Zhu, D., Xu, Y., Ma, H., Liao, J., Sun, W., Chen, Y., & Liu, W. (2022). Building a Three-Level User Experience (UX) Measurement Framework for Mobile Banking Applications in a Chinese Context: An Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Analysis. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 6(9), 83. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti6090083.

 (2) Theoretical Framework: line 97-114, line 163-174, please add reference to support theory.

Response 2: Thank you for your valuable feedback. We have addressed the insufficient references requested (lines 97-114 and 163-174) by supplementing the content with press releases and product descriptions found on the respective internet-only banks' websites:

• Kakao Bank, "We will achieve innovation in finance beyond banks.". Available online: https://www.kakaobank.com/products/mini (accessed on 7 December 2022).
• Kakao Bank, 'Everyone's Bank' based on 19 million customers... Continued growth through expansion of banking and platform businesses. Available online: https://www.kakaobank.com/Corp/News/PressRelease/view/13128 (accessed on 7 December 2022).

(3) Sample and Data Collection: please more detail about Sampling Methods (probability or non-probability).

Response 3: We appreciate your comment regarding the clarification of our sampling method. In response to this feedback, we have provided additional information about the sampling method in lines 355-358 of the manuscript. We employed a probability sampling approach, as detailed below:

"In addition to limiting the age of participants to those in their 20s or older who have used mobile banking during the survey, gender, region of residence, occupation, and responses to mobile banking services used were randomly collected."

(4) Study Results: please add reference (previous research) to support Results.

Response 4: In response to your suggestion to add references to support our study results, we have incorporated the following references throughout the manuscript:

• Line 447: Zhu, D.; Xu, Y.; Ma, H.; Liao, J.; Sun, W.; Chen, Y.; Liu, W. (2022). Building a Three-Level User Experience (UX) Measurement Framework for Mobile Banking Applications in a Chinese Context: An Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Analysis. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 6(9), 83. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti6090083.
• Line 457: Kakao Bank, "We will achieve innovation in finance beyond banks.". Available online: https://www.kakaobank.com/products/mini (accessed on 7 December 2022)
• Line 468: Ashari, H.; Abbas, I.; Abdul-Talib, A.-N.; Mohd Zamani, S.N. (2022). Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development Goals: A Multigroup Analysis of the Moderating Effects of Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Intention. Sustainability, 14, 431. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010431.

 

We hope that the inclusion of these references strengthens the validity of our study results and sufficiently addresses your concern.

 

 (5) Reference: please, add with new research (the last 1-3 years)

 

Response 5: In response to your suggestion to include more recent research from the last 1-3 years, we have updated our manuscript with the following additional references:

• Moniruzzaman, Md., & Wu, R. (2021). The emergence of digital banking accelerated by COVID-19: Modeling the adoption of mobile banking for small business. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 26(3), 128-237.
• Zhu, D.; Xu, Y.; Ma, H.; Liao, J.; Sun, W.; Chen, Y.; Liu, W. (2022). Building a Three-Level User Experience (UX) Measurement Framework for Mobile Banking Applications in a Chinese Context: An Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Analysis. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 6(9), 83. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti6090083.
• Kumar, R.; Singh, R.; Kumar, K.; Khan, S.; Corvello, V. (2023). How Does Perceived Risk and Trust Affect Mobile Banking Adoption? Empirical Evidence from India. Sustainability, 15, 4053. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054053.
• Kakao Bank, "We will achieve innovation in finance beyond banks.". Available online: https://www.kakaobank.com/products/mini (accessed on 7 December 2022).
• Kakao Bank, 'Everyone's Bank' based on 19 million customers... Continued growth through expansion of banking and platform businesses. Available online: https://www.kakaobank.com/Corp/News/PressRelease/view/13128 (accessed on 7 December 2022).
• Banking Statistics System. Available online: http://bss.kfb.or.kr/(accessed on 10 December 2022).
• Kyeong, S.; Kim, D.; Shin, J. (2022). Can System Log Data Enhance the Performance of Credit Scoring?—Evidence from an Internet Bank in Korea. Sustainability, 14, 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010130.
• Park, C.W.; Park, J.S. (2022). Payment and settlement statistics: Internet banking service usage status of domestic banks. The Bank of Korea. Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://www.bok.or.kr/portal/bbs/P0000559/view.do?nttId=10072757&menuNo=200690.
• Bădîrcea, R.M.; Manta, A.G.; Florea, N.M.; Popescu, J.; Manta, F.L.; Puiu, S. (2022). E-Commerce and the Factors Affecting Its Development in the Age of Digital Technology: Empirical Evidence at EU–27 Level. Sustainability, 14, 101. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010101.
• Sandesara, M.; Bodkhe, U.; Tanwar, S.; Alshehri, M.D.; Sharma, R.; Neagu, B-C.; Grigoras, G.; Raboaca, M.S. (2022). Design and Experience of Mobile Applications: A Pilot Survey. Mathematics, 10(14), 2380. https://doi.org/10.3390/math10142380.
• Sayaf, A.M.; Alamri, M.M.; Alqahtani, M.A.; Alrahmi, W.M. (2022). Factors Influencing University Students’ Adoption of Digital Learning Technology in Teaching and Learning. Sustainability, 14, 493. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010493.
• Ashari, H.; Abbas, I.; Abdul-Talib, A.-N.; Mohd Zamani, S.N. (2022). Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development Goals: A Multigroup Analysis of the Moderating Effects of Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Inten-tion. Sustainability, 14, 431. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010431.
• Sadyk, D.; Islam, D.M.Z. (2022). Brand Equity and Usage Intention Powered by Value Co-Creation: A Case of Instagram in Ka-zakhstan. Sustainability, 14, 500. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010500.

Finally, we sincerely appreciate your diligence and effort in reviewing our manuscript. Your suggestions and insights have been among the most helpful that we have received while authoring our recent papers. We thank you again for improving the quality of this work.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This study examines the design attributes of sustainable mobile banking in Korea. Using the theory of planned behavior and seven service design attributes, the study found that information quality, utilitarian value, ease of use, and usefulness positively affected sustainable usage intention and attitude. The study offers insights into which user touchpoints designers should focus on when developing services. Overall, the paper is well written. I only have two suggestions.
1.    The literature parts. It seems that most references cited in this paper are aged, and not many are after 2018, or within the past 3-5 years. It might be better to include more recent research in your introduction, and briefly discuss the recent development on the examined questions.
2.    From the methodological side, the model employed in your empirical part seems to be standard. This may be improved in 2 ways. First, you might consider adding more references (especially recent ones) to support the validity of using the models. Second, you could employ alternative models to check the robustness of your regression/fitting results.

Author Response

Response Letter

This document contains detailed responses to the suggestions and insights of the reviewers. We sincerely thank all reviewers for taking the time to appraise our manuscript with a view to helping us improve its quality and contributions.

REVIEWER 2

This study examines the design attributes of sustainable mobile banking in Korea. Using the theory of planned behavior and seven service design attributes, the study found that information quality, utilitarian value, ease of use, and usefulness positively affected sustainable usage intention and attitude. The study offers insights into which user touchpoints designers should focus on when developing services. Overall, the paper is well written. I only have two suggestions.

(1) The literature parts. It seems that most references cited in this paper are aged, and not many are after 2018, or within the past 3-5 years. It might be better to include more recent research in your introduction, and briefly discuss the recent development on the examined questions.

Response 1: Thank you for your valuable feedback. In response to your suggestion to include more recent research from the last 3-5 years, we have updated our manuscript with the following additional references:

 

• Moniruzzaman, Md., & Wu, R. (2021). The emergence of digital banking accelerated by COVID-19: Modeling the adoption of mobile banking for small business. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 26(3), 128-237.
• Zhu, D.; Xu, Y.; Ma, H.; Liao, J.; Sun, W.; Chen, Y.; Liu, W. (2022). Building a Three-Level User Experience (UX) Measurement Framework for Mobile Banking Applications in a Chinese Context: An Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Analysis. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 6(9), 83. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti6090083.
• Kumar, R.; Singh, R.; Kumar, K.; Khan, S.; Corvello, V. (2023). How Does Perceived Risk and Trust Affect Mobile Banking Adoption? Empirical Evidence from India. Sustainability, 15, 4053. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054053.
• Kakao Bank, "We will achieve innovation in finance beyond banks.". Available online: https://www.kakaobank.com/products/mini (accessed on 7 December 2022).
• Kakao Bank, 'Everyone's Bank' based on 19 million customers... Continued growth through expansion of banking and platform businesses. Available online: https://www.kakaobank.com/Corp/News/PressRelease/view/13128 (accessed on 7 December 2022).
• Banking Statistics System. Available online: http://bss.kfb.or.kr/(accessed on 10 December 2022).
• Kyeong, S.; Kim, D.; Shin, J. (2022). Can System Log Data Enhance the Performance of Credit Scoring?—Evidence from an Internet Bank in Korea. Sustainability, 14, 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010130.
• Park, C.W.; Park, J.S. (2022). Payment and settlement statistics: Internet banking service usage status of domestic banks. The Bank of Korea. Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://www.bok.or.kr/portal/bbs/P0000559/view.do?nttId=10072757&menuNo=200690.
• Bădîrcea, R.M.; Manta, A.G.; Florea, N.M.; Popescu, J.; Manta, F.L.; Puiu, S. (2022). E-Commerce and the Factors Affecting Its Development in the Age of Digital Technology: Empirical Evidence at EU–27 Level. Sustainability, 14, 101. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010101.
• Sandesara, M.; Bodkhe, U.; Tanwar, S.; Alshehri, M.D.; Sharma, R.; Neagu, B-C.; Grigoras, G.; Raboaca, M.S. (2022). Design and Experience of Mobile Applications: A Pilot Survey. Mathematics, 10(14), 2380. https://doi.org/10.3390/math10142380.
• Sayaf, A.M.; Alamri, M.M.; Alqahtani, M.A.; Alrahmi, W.M. (2022). Factors Influencing University Students’ Adoption of Digital Learning Technology in Teaching and Learning. Sustainability, 14, 493. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010493.
• Ashari, H.; Abbas, I.; Abdul-Talib, A.-N.; Mohd Zamani, S.N. (2022). Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development Goals: A Multigroup Analysis of the Moderating Effects of Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Inten-tion. Sustainability, 14, 431. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010431.
• Sadyk, D.; Islam, D.M.Z. (2022). Brand Equity and Usage Intention Powered by Value Co-Creation: A Case of Instagram in Ka-zakhstan. Sustainability, 14, 500. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010500.

(2) From the methodological side, the model employed in your empirical part seems to be standard. This may be improved in 2 ways. First, you might consider adding more references (especially recent ones) to support the validity of using the models. Second, you could employ alternative models to check the robustness of your regression/fitting results.

Response 2: Thank you for your insightful comments and suggestions. We appreciate your feedback on the methodological aspect of our study. In response to your suggestions, we have made the following revisions:

 

To address your concern regarding the validity of using the models, we have added more recent references to support our choice. The updated reference list now includes the following studies:

• Sayaf, A.M.; Alamri, M.M.; Alqahtani, M.A.; Alrahmi, W.M. (2022). Factors Influencing University Students’ Adoption of Digital Learning Technology in Teaching and Learning. Sustainability, 14, 493. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010493.
• Ashari, H.; Abbas, I.; Abdul-Talib, A.-N.; Mohd Zamani, S.N. (2022). Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development Goals: A Multigroup Analysis of the Moderating Effects of Entrepreneurship Education on Entrepreneurial Intention. Sustainability, 14, 431. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010431.
• Sadyk, D.; Islam, D.M.Z. (2022). Brand Equity and Usage Intention Powered by Value Co-Creation: A Case of Instagram in Kazakhstan. Sustainability, 14, 500. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010500.

 

Finally, we sincerely appreciate your diligence and effort in reviewing our manuscript. Your suggestions and insights have been among the most helpful that we have received while authoring our recent papers. We thank you again for improving the quality of this work.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

In theory, quality of experience is related but differs from quality of service. In your study, QoE and QoS measurement items are mixed with the user's attitudes and usage intentions. According to Norman Nielsen, attitudinal methods of research are qualitative in nature and conducted through interviews and focus groups. According to TBF theory, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control are also influential factors (you have not included them in the experimental part). It is unclear who the participants were: existing users of one Kakao Bank or multiple banks. Also, how was the survey conducted: were the participants presented with the mobile application when answering the questionnaire? If not, perceived aesthetics and hedonic value cannot be measured.

Author Response

Response Letter

This document contains detailed responses to the suggestions and insights of the reviewers. We sincerely thank all reviewers for taking the time to appraise our manuscript with a view to helping us improve its quality and contributions.

REVIEWER 3

(1) In theory, quality of experience is related but differs from quality of service. In your study, QoE and QoS measurement items are mixed with the user's attitudes and usage intentions. According to Norman Nielsen, attitudinal methods of research are qualitative in nature and conducted through interviews and focus groups. According to TBF theory, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control are also influential factors (you have not included them in the experimental part). It is unclear who the participants were: existing users of one Kakao Bank or multiple banks. Also, how was the survey conducted: were the participants presented with the mobile application when answering the questionnaire? If not, perceived aesthetics and hedonic value cannot be measured.

Response 1: Thank you for your valuable comments and suggestions regarding the distinction between Quality of Experience (QoE) and Quality of Service (QoS), as well as the relationship between user attitudes, usage intentions, and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). In response to your concerns, we have made the following revisions in our manuscript:

 

We acknowledge the limitations of our study and have added a discussion of these limitations and suggestions for future research in lines 527-530 and 532-534 of the manuscript. The updated text reads as follows:

"Additionally, the results may vary depending on whether participants exclusively use Kakao Bank for mobile banking services or also utilize other banks concurrently. Moreover, the perceived utilitarian and hedonic values were not assessed through direct user testing. Future studies must make up for these shortcomings in constructing their samples and should use big data analytics and user tests. Furthermore, research on attitudes towards mobile banking also exhibits qualitative characteristics. Consequently, future studies should employ qualitative research methodologies, such as user interviews and focus group interviews."

 

We have added a reference to support our discussion of the limitations and future research directions:

• Lucas Jr., H.C.; Nielsen, N.R. (1980). The impact of the mode of information presentation on learning and performance. Management Science, 26(10), 982-993.

 

Finally, we sincerely appreciate your diligence and effort in reviewing our manuscript. Your suggestions and insights have been among the most helpful that we have received while authoring our recent papers. We thank you again for improving the quality of this work.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

all revision requests have been fulfilled