Multi-dimensional trust formation in neobanks and its implications for users' perceived risk

Abstract

Trust is one of the most important factors for a good customer relationship in banking industry. Neobanks (also known as challenger banks) are the new players of fintech ecosystem and they challenge the traditional banks by offering state-of-the art technologies and creating a better user experience. The importance of trust in users; decision to use fintech is a significant interest to neobanks because they are digital only companies without a physical branch network and they are not regulated as traditional banks. This empirical study primarily explores how reputation and application quality affect trust formation and secondly, how the trust dimensions impact willingness to depend on the neobank and perceived risk. The results indicate that perceived reputation and perceived app quality significantly improves trust and trust reduces perceived risk while positively influencing users' willingness to depend on a neobank. Additionally, perceived app quality positively effects perceived reputation and perceived reputation lowers perceived risk.