Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 32 (2020) 536–542

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences

journal homepage: www.sciencedirect.com

Original article

A study of the effects of online banking quality gaps on customers’

perception in Saudi Arabia
Emad Hashiem Abualsauod, Asem Majed Othman ⇑
Department of Industrial Engineering, Taibah University, 344 Madina 41411, Saudi Arabia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Recent advancements in technology during the last decade has had an essential impact on the banking
Received 15 May 2018 industry, and the recent rapid growth and expansion of online banking in Saudi Arabia is incontestable.
Accepted 9 September 2019 The application of technology is essential in the banking industry to provide exceptional service to cus-
Available online 12 September 2019
tomers when using Online Banking (OB). This study aims to develop a conceptual framework of OB by
understanding the interaction of stakeholders in the banking industry, and to identify the quality gaps
Keywords: of OB based on a relevant literature. Five quality gaps for OB and three phases of customer interaction
Saudi Arabia
with online banking systems were identified. Therefore, the ultimate objective of this research is to mea-
Quality gaps
Online banking
sure the influence of such quality gaps on customers’ willingness to use OB in Saudi Arabia as well as cus-
Service quality tomer satisfaction toward OB. Technology and human interaction gaps were found to have a significant
effect on customers’ willingness to use OB. Furthermore, service reliability, technical knowledge, and
human interaction gaps were found to significantly influence customer satisfaction in OB.
Ó 2019 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction
Today, the service industry is focusing on automating their
transactions using modern technological applications. In particu-
lar, banks are playing a major role in developing the economy of
a country. Internet banking (e-banking) is one of the technological
applications that has caused a transformation in the banking
industry. Today, physical branch banking has been replaced by e-
banking, whereby customers can obtain service through the Inter-
net from their homes or at work rather than physically visiting the
branch (Drigă and Isac, 2014; Poon, 2007). This transformation to
e-service has provided both banks and customers with several ben-
efits such as personalized services, transaction security, speed of
processing transactions, and overall better service quality
(Abdulfattah, 2012). Thus, this rapid development in banking ser-
vices and customer relationship requires studying and researching
the service quality provided by banks through Online Banking
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: eabualsauod@taibahu.edu.sa (E.H. Abualsauod), amtothman@
taibahu.edu.sa (A.M. Othman).
Peer review under responsibility of King Saud University.
Production and hosting by Elsevier
(OB). This study contributes by identifying the quality gaps that
impact customer satisfaction when utilizing Online Banking (OB).
To facilitate e-banking, banks allow customers to seek information
about their accounts, conduct banking operations, and request for
services such as payment of bills, money transfer, and deposit of
checks (Auta, 2010; Oyewole et al., 2013). Indeed, many people
prefer to avail online banking services from home or office rather
than physically visiting the bank (Poon, 2007). Thus, it is crucial
for banks to invest in their own online services in order to enhance
the overall customer experience and remain competitive (Gupta,
2008). With more than 31 million people living in Saudi Arabia,
69.6% of them use Internet (Elnakat, 2017). It is vital to invest on
OB infrastructure. In fact, Saudi Arabia holds Mecca and Madinah,
which attracts more than two million visitors yearly from all over
the world (Abdelgawad et al., 2014; Kaysi et al., 2013). Hence,
enhancements on OB service quality would result in increasing
users and consequently customers. This study introduces the qual-
ity gaps that influence customers’ willingness and satisfaction to
use OB. The contribution of this study will lead to better serve cus-
tomer in OB by tackling the quality gaps that will result in influ-
encing customer satisfaction. This study aims to develop a
conceptual framework of OB by understanding the interaction of
stakeholders, and to identify the quality gaps of OB by considering
the relationship among stakeholders. Once the quality gaps are
identified, the ultimate objective is to measure the effect of such
quality gaps on customers’ willingness to use and satisfaction in

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2019.09.001
1018-3639/Ó 2019 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 E.H. Abualsauod, A.M. Othman / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 32 (2020) 536–542
online banking in Saudi Arabia. In the methodology section, the
three phases in which customers interact with online banking ser-
vice providers was described and linear regression has been used
to analyze the data for seven different models. The analyzed results
were also associated to managerial implications in a separate
section.
2. Theoretical background
Customers’ intention to use OB is influenced by many factors
(Khanifar et al., 2012; Sentosa et al., 2012). Several research studies
suggested that ease of use and/or usefulness significantly affect
customers’ intention to utilize OB (Martins, 2013). On the other
hand, Venkatesh et al. (2003) concluded that user’s knowledge sig-
nificantly affects customers’ willingness to use e-banking. Han and
Baek (2004) adopted Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1988) Ser-
vice Quality Model (SERVQUAL) to measure the service quality on
OB. The SERVQUAL model is widely used to measure the service
quality in service industry using quality determinates. This evalu-
ation model relies on five measurement categories: (1) tangibility,
which refers to the physical and actual appearance of the facilities,
personnel, and goods; (2) reliability, which implies the service
transactions are successfully and completely performed as pro-
mised by the service provider; (3) responsiveness, which indicates
that consumers received the service they required with minimum
waiting time; (4) assurance, which implies that the service person-
nel are well trained to communicate and serve consumers effec-
tively; and (5) empathy, which refers to the level of courtesy
provided by service providers to every service consumer. However,
the quality determinants usually give an overall understanding of
measuring service quality in the service industry. Since some of
the quality determinants contradict with multiple meanings,
specifically in OB. In contrast with quality gaps, it gives a compre-
hensive definition of the factor influencing customers’ service qual-
ity perception. Since this research study is dealing with service
quality on OB, we precisely define each quality gap in three differ-
Banking Industry
The Bank
Quality
Time
Reliability The Customer
Website
Security Interface
Technology
Fig. 1. Interaction of Stakeholders.
Phase Creang
One username
Fig. 2. The Three-phase Interaction between Customers and OB.
537
ent phases. In this research, we identified four core stakeholders:
the customer, the website interface, the bank, and the banking
industry. Fig. 1 shows the direct interaction between the customer
(client) and the website interface (that is managed by the bank) as
well as the indirect interaction of all stakeholders with the banking
industry.
For the purpose of simplicity and in-depth analysis, the interac-
tion between customers and OB Service Providers (OBSPs) was
divided into three phases—Creating, Accessing, and Performing
(CAP)—as shown in Fig. 2. Phase 1, the creating phase, is the first
step in which customers create their online banking username
and password in order to begin accessing their bank account
online. Phase 2, the accessing phase, is the phase in which cus-
tomers sign in to the account by entering their username and pass-
word. Many banks use different double authentication processes to
allow customers to access their accounts. Phase 3, the performing
phase, is the phase of actual usage of the bank account online; in
this phase, customers perform service transactions, such as check-
ing their balance online, paying bills, requesting for checks, and
other transactions.
3. Servie quality gap model
In general, service organizations attempt to achieve customer
satisfaction by meeting or exceeding customer expectations.
Parasuraman et al. (1985) identified four main conceptual quality
gaps between customers and service organizations: (1) the gap
between customer expectations and management perceptions of
customer expectations; (2) the gap between management percep-
tions of consumer expectations and the service quality specifica-
tions delivered by the firms from customers’ perspective; (3): the
gap between service quality specifications and the actual service
that was delivered to the customer; and (4): the gap between the
actual service delivery and customers’ standpoint about service
quality. These four quality gaps have led us to identify five service
quality gaps for online banking, partly based on a literature review
and partly on empirical analysis.
3.1. Identification of quality gaps for online banking in Saudi Arabia
Technology Gap. This involves the gap between customers’
expectations regarding ease of use of a bank website and the actual
functionality and usability of the website. Online banking cus-
tomers must be able to use the website functions smoothly with-
out facing any difficulties (Yiu, Grant, & Edgar, 2007). Thus,
customers’ intention to use e-banking services is affected by the
level of usefulness developed by OBSP (Hussain, 2014). Therefore,
website functionality and usefulness need to be enhanced by OBSP.
Service Reliability Gap. This indicates the gap between cus-
tomers’ expectations of bank reliability and bank website fulfill-
ment. Customers have a better perception of service quality
when the OBSP fulfills their needs as promised through the website
interface (Ladhari et al., 2011). Furthermore, several studies show
that service reliability in online banking has the greatest influence
Phase Accessing Phase Performing
Two account Three transacons
538 E.H. Abualsauod, A.M. Othman / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 32 (2020) 536–542

on customer satisfaction in Internet banking services
(Fonchamnyo, 2013; Sakhaei, Afshari, & Esmaili, 2014). Hence,
the ability to meet the promised standards of service reliability
must be enhanced while providing service over the Internet.
Technical Knowledge Gap. This represents the gap between
customers’ level of technical knowledge and the bank website’s
level of design complexity. Customers’ lack of technical knowledge
affects their intention to use online banking services (Al-Husein
and Sadi, 2015; Rahman et al., 2017). In fact, customers with low
level of technical knowledge are hesitant to interact with banking
websites due to the complexity and fear of insecurity (Sinha and
Mukherjee, 2016). In addition, older generations (65 + years old)
are found to be less likely to use online banking compared to
younger ones (between 25 and 34 years old), owing to lack of tech-
nical knowledge (Clark, 2016). Therefore, OBSP must ensure that
websites’ level of design meets customers’ (particularly, the
elderly) level of technical knowledge.
Security Assurance Gap. This implies the gap between the pro-
mised level of security to customers and delivered privacy and
security by the bank website. Security of Internet banking is one
of the major concerns that affects customers when using e-
banking. Customer confidence on e-banking depends mainly on
the level of security promised by the OBSP in protecting personal
information and/or deal with preventing unauthorized transac-
tions/access (Chiu et al., 2016).
Human Interaction Gap. This indicates the gap between cus-
tomers’ need for human interaction and the bank website’s respon-
siveness. Similar to most e-commerce businesses, the availability
of human interaction increases customer satisfaction and plays
an important role in gaining customers’ trust in the services pro-
vided (Levy, 2014; Seckler et al., 2015). In fact, customers consider
the absence of human interface affects the time and speed of pro-
cessing their online requests (Toufaily and Pons, 2017). Conse-
quently, this has a significant negative influence on customers’
loyalty (Aggarwal and Bhardwaj, 2016). Therefore, OBSP needs to
find possible approaches, such as 24/7 customer service chat, to
compensate the absence of human interactions in e-banking to
mitigate this gap.
Table 1 summarizes the quality gap determinants:
4. Methodology
In this study, a survey instrument was developed to measure
the significance of OBs’ service quality gaps on customers’ willing-
ness to use and customer satisfaction in OB. Linear regression was
used to analyze the survey data. Each quality gap has one state-
ment that was used as the independent variable. A five-point Likert
scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) was used for each
statement. For the first two models, there were two dependent
variables that were tested separately (customers’ willingness to
use and customer satisfaction) and had one statement each. Fur-
thermore, Models three to seven, each phase of interaction
between customers and OB (CAP) was tested against each quality
gap. Each phase was considered as an independent variable, and
each quality gap was considered as a dependent one. The purpose
was to identify which phase has significant effects on each quality
gap. In total, seven regression models were generated from the col-
lected data.
4.1. Research questions
In this section, for each of the seven models, this research study
attempts to answer the following research questions:
Model 1: Do quality gaps have significant effect on customers’
willingness to use OB?
Model 2: Do quality gaps have significant effect on customer
satisfaction in OB?
Model 3: Do the three interaction phases have a significant
effect on Technology gap?
Model 4: Do the three interaction phases have a significant
effect on Service Reliability Gap?
Model 5: Do the three interaction phases have a significant
effect on Technical Knowledge Gap?
Model 6: Do the three interaction phases have a significant
effect on Security Assurance Gap?
Model 7: Do the three interaction phases have a significant
effect on Human Interaction Gap?
Table 2 summarizes each model and test of hypotheses
4.2. . Participants and sampling
The participants of this survey instrument were from Saudi Ara-
bia. The survey was developed and distributed using Qualtrics,
which is an online survey website used to create surveys and col-
lect data from respondents/participants. The total completed and
usable responses were 268.
5. Results
The survey data were analyzed using IBM SPSS, version 25. The
average completion time for the survey was 6.5 min. Respondents
included those who used online banking in Saudi Arabia in the past
six months. Tables 3 through 7 summarize the demographics and
some insights about the participants.
For each of the seven models, linear regression was used to test
the significance of the independent variable over the dependent
variable. Tables 7–14 summarize the results. Table 7 illustrates
the results of Model1, which show that Technology Gap and
Human interaction significantly influence customers’ willingness
to use OB. In fact, using standardized coefficients, the results show
that Technology Gap has a stronger influence than human interac-
tion on customers’ willingness to use OB. Table 9 illustrates the
results of Model 2, which show that service reliability, technical
knowledge gap, and human interaction significantly influence cus-
tomer satisfaction in OB. In fact, using standardized coefficients,
the results show that human interaction gap has the strongest
influence on customer satisfaction followed by technical knowl-
edge gap, and service reliability gap respectively. Tables 10–12
illustrate the results of Models 3, 4, 5, and 6, respectively; the

Table 1
Qualitygaps for online banking in saudi arabia.

No. Quality Gap Description

1 Technology Gap
2 Service Reliability Gap
3 Technical Knowledge Gap
4 Security Assurance Gap
5 Human Interaction Gap
Difference between customers’ expectations of ease of use and the actual functionality and usability of the bank website.
Difference between customers’ expectations of bank reliability and bank website fulfillment.
Difference between customers’ level of technical knowledge and the bank website’s level of design complexity.
Difference between the promised level of security to customers and delivered privacy and security by the bank website.
Difference between customers’ need for human interaction and bank website’s responsiveness.
 E.H. Abualsauod, A.M. Othman / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 32 (2020) 536–542 539

Table 2 Table 4
Test of Hypotheses for the Seven Models. Age Groups.

Model 1: The significant effect of quality gaps on customers’ willingness to Age

use OB
No. of Respondents Percentage
H11 Technology Gap has a significant effect on customers’ willingness to use
15–24 106 40%
OB
25–34 69 26%
H12 Service Reliability Gap has a significant effect on customers’ willingness
35–44 57 21%
to use OB
45–54 17 6%
H13 Technical Knowledge Gap has a significant effect on customers’
55 and above 19 7%
willingness to use OB
Total 268 100%
H14 Security Assurance Gap has a significant effect on customers’
willingness to use OB
H15 Human Interaction Gap has a significant effect on customers’
willingness to use OB
Table 5
Model 2: The significant effect of quality gaps on customer satisfaction in
Education level.
OB
H21 Technology Gap has a significant effect on customer satisfaction in OB Education level
H22 Service Reliability Gap has a significant effect on customer satisfaction No. of Respondents Percentage
in OB
H23 Technical Knowledge Gap has a significant effect on customer Non-college-educated 8 3%
satisfaction in OB College-educated 260 97%
H24 Security Assurance Gap has a significant effect on customer satisfaction Total 268 100%
in OB
H25 Human Interaction Gap has a significant effect on customer satisfaction
in OB
Model 3: The significant effect of the three phases on Technology Gap Table 6
Gender.
H31 Technology Gap is significantly affected by Phase 1
H32 Technology Gap is significantly affected by Phase 2 Gender
H33 Technology Gap is significantly affected by Phase 3
No. of Respondents Percentage
Model 4: The significant effect of the three phases on Service Reliability
Gap Male 143 53%
Female 125 47%
H41 Service Reliability Gap is significantly affected by Phase 1 Total 268 100%
H42 Service Reliability Gap is significantly affected by Phase2
H43 Service Reliability Gap is significantly affected by Phase 3
Model 5: The significant effect of the three phases on Technical Knowledge Table 7
Gap Most Frequently Used Banks.
H51 Technical Knowledge Gap is significantly affected by Phase 1 Most frequently used banks by respondents in Saudi Arabia
H52 Technical Knowledge Gap is significantly affected by Phase 2
H53 Technical Knowledge Gap is significantly affected by Phase 3 No. of Respondents Percentage

Model 6: The significant effect of the three phases on Security Assurance The National Commercial Bank (NCB) 78 29%
Gap The Saudi British Bank (SAAB) 8 3%
Saudi Investment Bank 2 1%
H61 Security Assurance Gap is significantly affected by Phase 1 Alinma Bank 10 4%
H62 Security Assurance Gap is significantly affected by Phase 2 Banque Saudi Fransi 3 1%
H63 Security Assurance Gap is significantly affected by Phase 3 Riyad Bank 15 6%
Model 7: The significant effect of the three phases on Human Interaction Samba Financial Group (Samba) 58 22%
Gap Saudi Hollandi Bank (Alawwal) 6 2%
Al Rajhi Bank 72 27%
H71 Human Interaction Gap is significantly affected by Phase 1 Arab National Bank 3 1%
H72 Human Interaction Gap is significantly affected by Phase 2 Bank Al-Bilad 9 3%
H73 Human Interaction Gap is significantly affected by Phase 3 Bank AlJazira 4 1%
Total 268 100%

Table 3
Frequency of Online Banking Usage.

Frequency of online banking usage

6. Managerial implications

No. of Respondents Percentage

The comprehensive identification of the service quality gaps in
Daily 21 8% OB will lead to better understanding of customers’ quality percep-
4 to 6 times a week 70 26%
tion. The first two models measure customer willingness and satis-
2 to 3 times a week 85 32%
once a week 92 34% faction towards OB respectively. Table 15 summarizes the
Total 268 100% significant quality gaps affecting customer willingness and satis-
faction. Hence, practitioners shall focus on mitigating the signifi-
cant quality gaps to enhance OB overall service quality. For
example, model one shows that Technical Knowledge, and Human
results show that the three phases of CAP are important to respon- Interaction quality gaps significantly affect customers’ willingness
dents and they significantly influence technology gap, service reli- to utilize OB. Therefore, by referring to the explanation and defini-
ability gap, technical knowledge gap, and security assurance gap. tion of the quality gaps, and to increase customers willingness to
Table 14 illustrates the results of Model 7, which show that the cre- utilize OB, managers should tackle those quality gaps by develop-
ating and accessing phases are important to respondents, and that ing strategic operational objectives for each quality gap. Further-
they significantly influence human interaction gap. more, as previously explained in Fig. 2, customers interact with
540 E.H. Abualsauod, A.M. Othman / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 32 (2020) 536–542

Table 8
The Significant Effect of Quality Gaps on Customers’ Willingness to Use OB (Model 1).

Model 1. The significant effect of quality gaps on customers’ willingness to use OB1
Dependent variable: how would you rate your level of preference for online banking (as opposed to visiting the bank branch or using the phone banking p
service)
H11 Technology Gap The bank’s website is useful and functional. 0.015*
H12 Service Reliability The bank’s website is highly reliable in all cases. 0.553
H13 Technical Knowledge The design of the website is simple and met my expectations. 0.589
Independent
Gap
Variables
H14 Security Assurance The security offered by the bank’s website increased my trust. 0.212
H15 Human interaction Overall, there is no need to interact with a bank employee. I can process all my account transactions/ 0.038*
procedures online.
1
Adj R2 = 0.125, the overall model is significant, p < 0.001.
*p < 0.05.

Table 9
The Significant Effect of Quality Gaps on Customer Satisfaction in OB (Model 2).

Model 2: The significant effect of quality gaps on customer satisfaction in OB1

Dependent variable: How satisfied are you with how well your preferences are met with online banking? p
H21 Technology Gap The bank’s website is useful and functional. 0.217
H22 Service Reliability This bank’s website is highly reliable in all cases. 0.01*
H23 Technical Knowledge The design of this website is simple and met my expectations. 0.005**
Independent
Gap
Variables
H24 Security Assurance The security offered by the bank’s website increased my trust. 0.842
H25 Human interaction Overall, there is no need to interact with a bank employee. I can process all my account transactions/ 0.000***
procedures online.
1 2
R = 0.294, the overall model is significant, p < 0.001.
*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Table 10
The Significant Effect of CAP on Technology Gap (Model 3).

Model 3: The significant effect of the three phases on Technology Gap (Quality Gap 1)1
Dependent variable: The bank’s website is useful and functional. p
Independent Variables H31 Creating my online account using the bank’s website was useful. 0.000***
H32 Logging in to my account using my account credentials is easy and feasible. 0.000***
H33 Website functionality and usefulness made transactions and other procedures easy. 0.000***
1
Adj R2 = 0.348, the overall model is significant, p < 0.001.
***p < 0.001.

Table 11
The Significant Effect of CAP on Service Reliability Gap (Model 4).

Model 4: The significant effect of the three phases on service reliability (Quality Gap 2)1
Dependent variable: The bank’s website is highly reliable in all cases. p
Independent Variables H41 The website is highly reliable when creating my account. 0.000***
H42 Logging in to my bank account is highly reliable. 0.000***
H43 The services provided through online banking are as promised. 0.000***
1
Adj R2 = 0.509, the overall model is significant, p < 0.001.
***p < 0.001.

Table 12
The Significant Effect of CAP on Technical Knowledge Gap (Model 5).

Model 5: The significant effect of the three phases on Technical Knowledge Gap (Quality Gap 3)1
Dependent variable: The design of this website is simple and meets my expectations p
Independent Variables H51 When I created my bank account, the website design was user friendly. 0.021*
H52 When I login to my account, the website design does not require additional technical knowledge. 0.000***
H53 Flawless website layout and design helped me to perform all banking transactions. 0.000***
1
Adj R2 = 0.605, the overall model is significant, p < 0.001.
*p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001.
 E.H. Abualsauod, A.M. Othman / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 32 (2020) 536–542 541

Table 13
The Significant Effect of CAP on Security Assurance Gap (Model 6).

Model 6 The significant effect of the three phases on security assurance (Quality Gap 4)1
Dependent variable: The security offered by this bank website increased my trust. p
Independent Variables H61 I could be sure when I created my online account that the website was highly secure 0.000***
H62 The security requirements to login to this website are acceptable. 0.003**
H63 I can perform all transactions using my online account without fear of being subject to any financial risk 0.000***
1
Adj R2 = 0.463, the overall model is significant, p < 0.001.
**p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Table 14
The Significant Effect of CAP on Human Interaction Gap (Model 7).

Model 7: The significant effect of the three phases on human interaction (Quality Gap 5)1
Dependent variable: Overall, there is no need to interact with a bank employee. I can process all my account transactions/procedures online. p
H71 I did not need assistance from a customer service representative to create my account. 0.035*
Independent Variables H72 There was no need for assistance from the bank when logging in to my online account. 0.793
H73 I perform my banking transactions using the e-banking service without needing help from the bank. 0.000***

**p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

1
Adj R2 = 0.340, the overall model is significant, p < 0.001.

Table 15 7. Conclusion
Summary of Models 1 and 2 significance effect.

Model 1 Model 2 This study developed a conceptual framework of OB using rele-

Dependent Variable
vant literature review to demonstrate the relationship between
customers, the OBSP, and the banking industry. The first objective
Customers’ Willingness Customer Satisfaction
of this study was to identify the service quality gaps of OB in Saudi
Independent Variables Arabia. Five service quality gaps were identified: Technology, Ser-
Quality Gaps
p vice Reliability, Technical Knowledge, Security Assurance, and
Technology
p Human Interaction. The ultimate objective of this study was to
Service Reliability
p
Technical Knowledge measure the significant influence of the quality gaps on customers’
Security Assurance willingness to use and satisfaction in OB in Saudi Arabia. Further-
p p
Human Interaction
more, three different phases—creating, accessing, and performing
(CAP)—were defined in which customers interact with OB. Each
of the three phases was tested against each quality gap. A total
of seven regression models were obtained. The analysis and find-
OB through three phases: Creating, Accessing, and Performing ings of this study can be utilized to enhance the service quality
(CAP). Each of the three phases was tested against each of the qual- of online banking in Saudi Arabia. The success of OB depends heav-
ity gaps. Models three though seven measured the significant ily on banks’ ability to understand the barriers affecting customers’
effect of the three phases on each quality gap. Table 16 **summa- willingness to use and satisfaction with online banking, as well as
rizes the significant phases across different quality gaps. In order to to mitigate any service quality gaps.
mitigate those quality gaps, which ultimately will increase cus-
tomers’ intention to utilize OB, practitioners shall focus on those
8. Limitations and future research directions
significant phases affecting each quality gap. From Table 15, we
can conclude that Human Interaction Gap significantly affect cus-
The developed survey instrument can infer to more specific
tomer satisfaction and willingness towards OB. Furthermore,
analysis and results. For example, the influence of the quality gaps
Table 14 shows that Human Interaction Gap is affected in Phase
on customers’ willingness to use and satisfaction can be
1 and Phase 3. Consequently, this quality gap should be mitigated
differentiated in significance between different groups (age groups,
by utilizing mitigation strategies to minimize the need of human
gender, and level of education). Moreover, the effect of the three
interaction on those phases.
phases on each quality gap can be measured using a specific group

Table 16
Summary of Model 3 to 7 significance effect.

Model 3 Model 4 Model 5 Model 6 Model 7

Dependent Variable
Technology Gap Service Reliability Gap Technical Knowledge Gap Security Assurance Gap Human Interaction Gap
Independent Variables Phases
p p p p p
Phase 1 (Creating)
p p p p
Phase 2 (Accessing)
p p p p p
Phase 3 (Performing)
542 E.H. Abualsauod, A.M. Othman / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 32 (2020) 536–542
of participants who used one of the 12 banks stated in the survey
instrument. On the other hand, this research study used linear
regression to analyze the data and measure the significant influ-
ence of the service quality gaps. Indeed, other statistical
approaches can be used to measure the significant influence of
the service quality gaps. Statistical tools such as structural equa-
tion modeling (SEM) can be used, whereby each quality gap can
be considered as a latent variable and multiple statements can
be used to infer each of the three phases. In addition, strategies
to mitigate each quality gap can be researched and tested against
customers’ willingness to use and/or customer satisfaction.
References
Abdelgawad, H., Shalaby, A., Abdulhai, B., Gutub, A.A.A., 2014. Microscopic modeling
of large-scale pedestrian–vehicle conflicts in the city of Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
J. Adv. Transp. 48 (6), 507–525.
Abdulfattah, F., 2012. The Effect of Electronic Customer Relationship on Customer
Satisfaction a Study in Web Banking in Saudi Arabia. University of Huddersfield.
Doctoral dissertation.
Aggarwal, R., Bhardwaj, M., 2016. Assessing the impact of relationship quality on
online adoption. Int. J. Business Informat. Syst. 5 (1).
Al-Husein, M., Sadi, M.A., 2015. Preference on the perception of mobile banking: a
Saudi Arabian perspective. Europ. Online J. Nat. Soc. Sci. 4 (1), 161.
Auta, E.M., 2010. E-Banking in developing economy: empirical evidence from
Nigeria. J. Appl. Quantit. Meth. 5 (2).
Chiu, C.L., Chiu, J.L., Mansumitrchai, S., 2016. Privacy, security, infrastructure and
cost issues in internet banking in the Philippines: initial trust formation. Int. J.
Finan. Serv. Manage. 8 (3), 240–271.
Clark, D, 2016. eMarketer Updates Estimates for US Digital Banking Users. from
eMarketer database.
Drigă, I., Isac, C., 2014. E-banking services-features, challenges and benefits. Annals
of the University of Petrosßani. Economics 14 (1), 41–50.
Elnakat, M. 2017, August 28. Digital banking outlook in Saudi Arabia promising.
Saudi Gazette, p. 1. Retrieved from http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/516015.
Fonchamnyo, D.C., 2013. Customers’ perception of E-banking adoption in
cameroon: an empirical assessment of an extended TAM. Int. J. Econom. Fin.
5, 166–176.
Gupta, P. K. 2008. Internet banking in India–Consumer concerns and bank
strategies. Browser Download This Paper.
Han, S. L., Baek, S. 2004. Antecedents and consequences of service quality in online
banking: An application of the SERVQUAL instrument. ACR North American
Advances.
Hussain, S.M., 2014. Measuring quality of electronic service (e-service) in banking.
Int. J. Eng. Res. Appl. 4 (3), 350–359.
Kaysi, I., Alshalalfah, B., Shalaby, A., Sayegh, A., Sayour, M., Gutub, A., 2013. Users’
evaluation of rail systems in mass events: case study in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Transport. Res. Rec. 2350 (1), 111–118.
Khanifar, H., Nia, M., Javad, M., Molavi, Z., Emami, M. 2012. Factors influencing the
intendancy of e-banking: An integration of TAM & TPB with e-service quality.
Ladhari, R., Ladhari, I., Morales, M., 2011. Bank service quality: comparing Canadian
and Tunisian customer perceptions. Int. J. Bank Market. 29 (3), 224–246.
Levy, S., 2014. Does usage level of online services matter to customers’ bank
loyalty? J. Serv. Market. 28 (4), 292–299.
Martins, A.C.B. 2013. Understanding the internet banking adoption by Portuguese
customers-a unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and perceived
risk application (Doctoral dissertation).
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A., Berry, L.L., 1985. A Conceptual model of service
quality and its implications for future research. J. Market. 49 (4), 41–50.
Poon, W.C., 2007. Users’ adoption of e-banking services: the Malaysian perspective.
J. Busin. Indust. Market. 23 (1), 59–69.
Rahman, M., Saha, N.K., Sarker, M.N.I., Sultana, A., Prodhan, A.Z.M.S., 2017. Problems
and prospects of electronic banking in bangladesh: a case study on dutch-
bangla bank limited. Am. J. Operat. Manage. Informat. Syst. 2 (1), 42–53.
Oyewole, O.S., Abba, M., El-maude, J.G., 2013. E-banking and bank performance:
evidence from Nigeria. Int. J. Scient. Eng. Technol. (IJSET) 2 (8), 766–771.
Sakhaei, F., Afshari, A., Esmaili, E., 2014. The impact of service quality on customer
satisfaction in Internet banking. J. Mathemat. Comput. Sci. 9, 33–40.
Seckler, M., Heinz, S., Forde, S., Tuch, A.N., Opwis, K., 2015. Trust and distrust on the
web: user experiences and website characteristics. Comput. Human Behav. 45,
39–50.
Sentosa, I., Ming, C.W., Soebyakto, B.B., Nik Mat, N.K., 2012. A structural equation
modeling of internet banking usage in Malaysia. Research. World 3 (1), 75–86.
Sinha, I., Mukherjee, S., 2016. Acceptance of technology, related factors in use of off
branch e-banking: an Indian case study. J. High Technol. Manage. Res. 27 (1),
88–100.
Toufaily, E., Pons, F., 2017. Impact of customers’ assessment of website attributes on
e-relationship in the securities brokerage industry: a multichannel perspective.
J. Retail. Consum. Serv. 34, 58–69.
Venkatesh, V., Morris, M.G., Davis, G.B., Davis, F.D., 2003. User acceptance of
information technology: toward a unified view. MIS Quarter., 425–478
Yiu, C.S., Grant, K., Edgar, D., 2007. Factors affecting the adoption of Internet
Banking in Hong Kong—implications for the banking sector. Int. J. Informat.
Manage. 27 (5), 336–351.