Consumer Trust and Adoption of Digital Payment Systems in Emerging Markets

Adelina Emini; Hrvoje Budić; Hrvoje Volarević

doi:10.2478/bsrj-2026-0001

.blurhash-client-img { display: none !important; }

Consumer Trust and Adoption of Digital Payment Systems in Emerging Markets

Business Systems Research Journal

Volume 17 (2026): Issue 1 (April 2026)

By: Adelina Emini, Hrvoje Budić and Hrvoje Volarević

Open Access

|May 2026

Abstract

Background

Digital payment systems have already become the key to transforming financial services in emerging markets, but their usage remains highly dependent on user trust, perceptions of usefulness and convenience, and the availability of favourable conditions.

Objectives

This research sought to investigate how consumer trust and adoption of digital payment platforms depend on variables, drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and a multidimensional trust theory.

Methods/Approach

A quantitative survey of 500 respondents across four emerging-market regions was conducted. The relationship among performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and the three trust dimensions was analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM).

Results

Performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, and trust-related constructs were strong predictors of behavioural intention to use digital payments, and actual system utilisation was strongly predicted by behavioural intention. Trust was identified as mediating the users’ technological perceptions and their intentions to adopt. Qualitative implications revealed issues of security, data privacy, and infrastructural inconsistency that continued to influence user reluctance and perceptions of risk.

Conclusions

The results highlight the roles of trust-building mechanisms, effective user support systems, and regulatory assurance in promoting digital financial inclusion in emerging markets.

References

Almeida, M. C., Yoshikuni, A. C., Dwivedi, R., & Larieira, C. L. C. (2022). Do leadership styles influence employee information systems security intention? A study of the banking industry. Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, 23(4), 535-550. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40171-022-00320-1
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Alshurideh, M. T., Al Kurdi, B., Masa’deh, R. E., & Salloum, S. A. (2021). The moderation effect of gender on accepting electronic payment technology: A study on UAE consumers. Review of International Business Strategy, 31(3), 375–396. https://doi.org/10.1108/RIBS-08-2020-0102
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Barkhordari, M., Nourollah, Z., Mashayekhi, H., Mashayekhi, Y., & Ahangar, M. S. (2017). Factors influencing adoption of e-payment systems: An empirical study on Iranian customers. Information Systems and E-Business Management, 15(1), 89–116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-016-0311-1
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Chawla, D., & Joshi, H. (2019). Consumer attitude and intention to adopt mobile wallet in India – An empirical study. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 37(7), 1590–1618. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-09-2018-0256
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Dastan, I. (2016). Factors affecting the adoption of mobile payment systems: An empirical analysis. Emerging Markets Journal, 6(1), 17–25. https://doi.org/10.5195/emaj.2016.95
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Dwivedi, P., Alabdooli, J. I., & Dwivedi, R. (2021). Role of FinTech adoption for competitiveness and performance of the bank: a study of banking industry in UAE. International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness, 16(2), 130-138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42943-021-00033-9
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Garg, P., Gupta, B., Kapil, K. N., Sivarajah, U., & Gupta, S. (2025). Examining the relationship between blockchain capabilities and organizational performance in the Indian banking sector. Annals of Operations Research, 348(3), 1513-1546. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-023-05254-0
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Gupta, K., & Arora, N. (2020). Investigating consumer intention to accept mobile payment systems through unified theory of acceptance model: An Indian perspective. South Asian Journal of Business Studies, 9(1), 88–114. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAJBS-03-2019-0037
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Gupta, S., & Dhingra, S. (2022). Modeling the key factors influencing the adoption of mobile financial services: An interpretive structural modeling approach. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 27(2), 96-110. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41264-021-00101-4
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Ly, R., & Ly, B. (2024). Digital payment systems in an emerging economy. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 16, 100517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2024.100517
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Mijoč, I., Briš, M., & Karačić, D. (2025). Exploring Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Applications in Banking: A Bibliometric Study. Business Systems Research: International journal of the Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy, 16(2), 296-324. https://doi.org/10.2478/bsrj-2025-0029
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Moghavvemi, S., Mei, T. X., Phoong, S. W., & Phoong, S. Y. (2021). Drivers and barriers of mobile payment adoption: Malaysian merchants’ perspective. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 59, 102364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102364
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Najib, M., & Fahma, F. (2020). Investigating the adoption of digital payment system through an extended technology acceptance model: Insights from Indonesian SMEs. International Journal of Advanced Science, Engineering and Information Technology, 10(4), 1702–1708. https://doi.org/10.18517/ijaseit.10.4.11616
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Park, J., Amendah, E., Lee, Y., & Hyun, H. (2019). M-payment service: Interplay of perceived risk, benefit, and trust in service adoption. Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries, 29(1), 31–43. https://doi.org/10.1002/hfm.20750
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Pejić Bach, M., Ivančić, L., Bosilj Vukšić, V., Stjepić, A. M., & Milanović Glavan, L. (2023). Internet usage among senior citizens: self-efficacy and social influence are more important than social support. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 18(3), 1463-1483. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer18030074
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Pejić Bach, M., Starešinić, B., Omazić, M. A., Aleksić, A., & Seljan, S. (2020). m-Banking quality and bank reputation. Sustainability, 12(10), 4315. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104315
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Ramljak, I., Tajalić, M., & Brkljačić, M. (2024). Navigating Digital Transformation: A Survey Study on Agile Adoption Impact. ENTRENOVA-ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion, 10(1), 412-427. https://doi.org/10.54820/entrenova-2024-0034
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Rawat, P. (2024). Consumer perception and adoption of digital payment methods: A study on trust and security concerns. Educational Administration: Theory and Practice, 30(4), 6022–6029. https://doi.org/10.53555/kuey.v30i4.2334
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Rouibah, K., Lowry, P. B., & Hwang, Y. (2016). The effects of perceived enjoyment and perceived risks on trust formation and intentions to use online payment systems: New perspectives from an Arab country. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 19, 33–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2016.07.001
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Sivathanu, B. (2019). Adoption of digital payment systems in the era of demonetisation in India: An empirical study. Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, 10(1), 143–171. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTPM-07-2017-0033
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Talwar, S., Dhir, A., Khalil, A., Mohan, G., & Islam, A. N. (2020). Point of adoption and beyond: Initial trust and mobile-payment continuation intention. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 55, 102086. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102086
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478. https://doi.org/10.2307/30036540
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wójcik-Czerniawska, A., & Grzymala, Z. (2024). Positive and Negative Innovations on AI economic Perspectives in Modern Banking/Finance. ENTRENOVA-ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion, 10(1), 467-480. https://doi.org/10.54820/entrenova-2024-00036
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Zahra, M., Ali Naqvi, S. A., Hussain, B., & Magazzino, C. (2025). Digitalizing sustainability in Pakistan’s textile sector: An investigation of lean digital transformation adoption. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 17, 18479790251369174. https://doi.org/10.1177/18479790251369174
Search in Google Scholar Back to article

Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bsrj-2026-0001 | Journal eISSN: 1847-9375 | Journal ISSN: 1847-8344

Journal RSS Feed

Language: English

Page range: 1 - 17

Submitted on: Oct 5, 2025

Accepted on: Nov 24, 2025

Published on: May 10, 2026

Published by: IRENET - Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

Keywords:

digital payments,

consumer trust,

UTAUT,

TAM,

financial inclusion,

structural equation modelling (SEM)

Related subjects:

Business and economics,

Business management,

Management, organization, corporate governance,

Business management, other,

Mathematics and statistics for economists,

Mathematics

© 2026 Adelina Emini, Hrvoje Budić, Hrvoje Volarević, published by IRENET - Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 17 (2026): Issue 1 (April 2026)