Digital vote-buying will challenge weak democracies

Significance In August, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) warned that online banking and electronic wallets -- the use of which has surged during the pandemic -- will be prime vehicles for digital vote-buying. Impacts Digital vote-buying will strengthen regional political clans, which are often the conduit for vote-buying in rural areas. Foreign influencer campaigns could become more disruptive with digital vote-buying. Fintech firms in fragile democracies could face tighter regulation on transparency and Know Your Customer rules.

Towards an Ultimate Cashless Society and Potential Collaboration Between Blockchain and E-Payments

There are many different ways by which a user can make cashless payments—online banking, credit and debit cards, e-wallets, and QR codes just to name a few. The adoption of the methods of payment is largely determined by government rules as well as regulations in the respective countries. Hence, this study provides an in-depth discussion regarding the trends of e-payment adoption in selected countries. To strengthen the case for the digitalisation of transactions, the authors also consider the advantages of moving towards a cashless society. In addition, major issues that hinder the growth in the global adoption of e-payments found in cross-border transactions will be discussed. Furthermore, this chapter also explores the potential adaptation of blockchain technology on e-payment systems to solve the instant cross-border payment issue.

Bridging Usability and Accessibility of User Authentication using Usable Accessed (UAce) for Online Payment Applications

Usability and accessibility are significant authentication aspects for online applications. Despite the fact that there are ongoing efforts to improve the interface design, some existing research only focuses on a single aspect of it. Thus, it is vital to investigate how to merge these two features into a practical and workable solution. This study presents a preliminary process for designing accessible and usable applications for online banking payment using Usable Accessed (UAce by adopting Design Science Research (DSR) as its methodology. The UAce standard considers attributes and characteristics from the user authentication. The standard establishes a development method and tool for assessing subjectively and quantitatively usable, as well as the user authentication while taking into account specific elements, qualities, and features. The DSR technique for developing highly usable and accessible interactive apps was utilized in designing this approach.

Will Online Banking Sustain in Bhutan Post Covid-19? A Quantitative Analysis of The Customer E-Satisfaction and E-Loyalty in The Kingdom of Bhutan

Online Banking has received a boost during Covid 19. It is believed that the cultured sector of the population has quickly adopted online banking since the outbreak of the virus. Online banking not only provides a platform for performing financial transactions but also acts as a medium of communication between the bank and the customer. Unlike rest of the world, perception of online banking came slightly late in the Kingdom of Bhutan, which already had a good network of banking access points for its populace, enabling the physical banking. However, due to lockdown observed in the aftermath of Covid-19, the online banking has established development in the country. In the present study, the researchers have confidence in that if the customer satisfaction can be ensured amongst the existing users of the online banking, then they will become dependable to such platform and would continue even in the post Covid-19 time. This study is imperative as the banking system of Bhutan has spent a significant number of resources in obtaining and implementing the online banking system, and sustainability of the system will be a point of concern for the decision makers.