Security in Electronic Transmission of Funds - Research Paper Example

Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Scope of Research 1 Main Problems that need to be addressed 2 Security in Electronic Transmission of Funds 2 A Stronger Customer-Management relation 2 Larger Area of Activity 2 A Greater Foothold 3 Ways of Conducting Research 3 Primary Research 3 Secondary Research 4 Research methodlogy for this research 4 Gaps in Secondary Data and The process of removal of them 5 ‘Nice to know information’ and ‘Need to know information’ 5 Costs: incurred while conducting the research 7 Ethical Issues while conducting the research 8 References 9 Bibliographies 10 Expectations of CustomErs from A Bank Executive Summary The banking sector forms one of the most crucial parts of an individual’s life style, responsible for a large number of activities. The primary services the sector had been catering ever since are, caters to are, (1) Handling deposits and savings (2) Handling Transmission of Money (3) Lending [Banking Services and Consumer, A report by the National Consumer] However, with the progress in technology and a simultaneous change in human needs, the expectation of the consumers have also witnessed paradigm shifts which makes it essential to conduct a research on the probable areas of improvisation. Conducting a market research is the best way of analyzing these requirements. This report analyzes the process of conducting a market research, the various issues, techniques, and considerations. Simultaneously, the applicability of various techniques for the proposed study will be studied and the best method will be identified. Scope of Research The market research is meant to identify the requirements of the customers visiting a bank. The research attempts to identify the importance the customers gave towards features like security of transmission, the customer-banker relationship, the bank’s array of services, and foothold amongst other factors. The research will not be testing as to how the customers actually perceive the services provided by the bankers, but just their expectations. The research will make an attempt to form conclusions to identify areas where the bankers should focus upon. Main Problems that need to be addressed Based on some literature review, and few interactions with the customers of premium banks, the following have been identified as the main problems that the research will analyze the importance of: Security in Electronic Transmission of Funds Bank customers demand a varied type of services from their banks apart from the traditional ones they already provide. One of the most important among them is a hassle free and fast transfer of our funds. An ideal way of transferring funds is to convert physical money to an electronic one that can facilitate a large number of aspects ranging from increased efficiency in money transmission, low transaction cost in money transmission, expansion of economic activities on the internet and opening up of new businesses opportunities. However, these increased facilities are not free of problems. The most important one that the bank customers face is related to security issues. A Stronger Customer-Management relation Another problem often faced by bank customers throughout the world is that of a weak customer-management relationship. People are very concerned about their hard-earned money, and often seek expert advice on them issues related to their investment. It is expected from the bank management to enrich them with their experience. But often it is found that the banks fail to attain friendly terms with their customers that would provide the latter with the freedom to interact. (Susan Ward, Customer Relationship Management) Larger Area of Activity Customers also expect their banks to handle more and more of their transactions, ranging from their bill payment to investment dealings. Nowadays, many people find it easy and lucrative to invest in equity shares, but physical transmission of shares is very hazardous. In such a situation, it would be very advantageous to people if their banks volunteer to handle such issues. A Greater Foothold The facility of banking would be enjoyed most if they have a large foothold, because then a large number of people can enjoy their services and the banks can contribute more to the growth process of a country since they would have access to a greater amount of wealth. Ways of Conducting Research Primary Research Fieldwork Fieldwork is one of the oldest and most reliable ways of conducting a research. Fieldwork is the commonest example of primary research work. But, to conduct a field work, it is necessary to train the personnel properly to minimize the error in data collection. It could be conducted in any one ways as follows – Personal Interviewing – this might be conducted at home or at the bank itself, in this case by preparing forms or questionnaires. Telephonic Interview – conducted through telephones personally or computer assisted media like answering to pre-recorded questions. Mails – often traditional mails or emails are sent to people. Observation: Sometimes, surveys could be conducted by observation. In fact, as observations are result of a consumer’s actual behaviour, so, it is often preferable to do fieldwork before taking a complex decision. There are ways by which this could be done. Allowing the customers to leave a feedback There must be a provision so that the customers can spell out their complaints and steps must be taken to cater to those complaints. This step helps the banks to know what the customers want actually and how to serve them best. Allowing the customers the liberty of contacting the officials Through this measure too, it is possible to know what services the customers actually expect from their banks, and how they want them to be carried on. Finding out the customer’s response to advertisements The customer’s expectations could be judged by observing their responses after changing some elements in an old advertisement and including some new ones. Secondary Research Research could also be conducted with the help of data or information published (i) in various journals related to the particular industry, in this case – financial journals, (ii) on the internet, (iii) newspaper articles (iv) Competitive publicity materials issued for advertising purposes. Research methodlogy for this research For the purpose of this research, the author proposes the following scheme of operations. After the completion of phase 1, the actual research work will start with a thorough literature review. This secondary research will enable the researcher to identify the core issues, which could be included in the research. It will also help the author by giving broad suggestions on various quantitative techniques and survey design that shall take place later. During the same process, the author will design the survey. A trial run will be done of the questionnaire on a smaller sample to checks its reliability, ability to understand, and comprehensibility. After incorporating the suggestions from the trail run, the author will run the survey questionnaire through the customers for data collection. For this purpose, the author has chosen a process of ‘personal interview’. Survey questionnaires will be distributed to the customers entering or leaving the bank. The filled survey responses will then be collated and analyzed. Gaps in Secondary Data and The process of removal of them Secondary research although seems to be much attractive from cost saving grounds, yet they might suffer from the problems of biasness and lack of modification. Hence, primary research needs to be conducted post survey for updating reasons. (Thachappilly Gopinathan, March 9, 2009). Although the banking sector has seen many research studies, but none of them actually analyze the entire important factors that a customer expects from the bank. Some studies focus on the electronic transmission, whereas others just examine the relationship aspects. This research will make an attempt to consolidate all these factors, and analyze them using a quantitative technique through primary research. In order to make sure that all the relevant information has been covered, the literature review ill help a long way. The trail run of the survey will also pint to any loopholes that may exist in the questionnaire and customers may point the issues that have been overlooked. These two points will ensure that all the information that is required to come to a definitive conclusion has been collected. ‘Nice to know information’ and ‘Need to know information’ The responses from different types of surveys vary from one another. For example, it is easier to derive information from people when they are questioned face-to-face. But, mails often go unanswered. However, conducting different types of surveys involve different types of cost and cost is an important area that needs to be kept in mind while conducting a research. For example, it is costlier to conduct a fieldwork survey through personal interview or telephonic interview, than conducting a survey through mails. Hence, the most important information needs to be collected via the costlier way, since they are essential and needs to be answered. Such information which is necessary to conduct a research and cannot be compromised with is known as ‘need to know information’. However, certain questions are there that if answered are advantageous but if not, do not make any significant difference. Such information is the ‘nice to know information’. Hence, it is important to distinguish between ‘nice to know’ and ‘need to know information’ (University of Maine, n.d.) Some ‘need to know information’ is as under: How frequently do the people transmit their money? This question can judge how urgent or important it is for people to cater to methods of electronic money transfer. What is the purpose for which they frequent banks? This question if answered can reveal the various kinds of services that various customers demand from banks. What is the way by which they make deposits or withdraw their money? This answer would reveal how much the customers depend upon electronic ways of money transmission. How secure do they feel while transacting their money? Given a number of reports regarding computer hacking have come to our knowledge and the unique ways by which they are being done, how secure do the customers feel while performing monetary dealings electronically. A subsidiary to the question might be the suggestions coming from the customers on how they think the bank can protect their hard-earned money. How helpful are the officials at the bank? People invest in a number of assets. But, if they are assured of someone who has excelled in handling investment transactions, and who would be in a position to efficiently handle all their dealings, the people would be much assured and can stay at peace of mind. But, they need to be guaranteed about the credibility of the bank employees. How much time does it take them to do a transaction? The answer to this question would reveal how fast the officials at bank are, and how much care they assign to the customer’s urgent needs. . Some instances of nice to know information are: How far do the customers go ahead in recommending a particular bank to their relatives? This answer would reveal how satisfied a customer is with the services being provided by that bank. How long do they need to travel to reach their bank or its nearest branch? The answer to this question would reveal the density of the bank in a certain area, and hence, its foothold among the population. Have their banks adopted a computerised system? This would show them how much a bank pins up on technology, and thus, it would reveal the needed information on how fast and efficiently the bank can offer its services. Conducting such research work on a number of banks would show the actual structure of the banking sector, and how effectively can it meet the expectations of the population. (Creating a questionnaire & Choosing Interview Methodology, The Survey System) Costs: incurred while conducting the research Even though a research is important for efficiency, yet the cost of conducting a survey is one of the most primary constraints. However, the extent of cost depends on the intensity of research work and the type of research being conducted. Often, the researchers have to make a trade-off between quality of research and its output. Again, the type of cost also matters since, the more the cost of conducting a survey (training of personnel to conduct a questionnaire, etc.); the lesser will be the cost of analysis and vice versa. Hence, there is always a trade-off involved in cost management. (Innovative Research Universities Australia, pp 4) Ethical Issues while conducting the research Every market researcher has to deal with a lot of ethical issue that may arise out of the research design. In this case, the process of literature review is ethical as the author does not infringe upon the copyright laws. The research articles will be duly quoted. The author has also got the permission to use these articles through public libraries. The data and information available with banks are amongst the most important information for a person. The author will in now way violate the privacy of customer’s information. In order to ensure this, after the designing of the survey questionnaire, the author will get it verified with few bank managers and make it sure that none of the information asked for is confidential in any nature. The survey questionnaire will also contain a disclaimer that the information asked for is purely for academic purpose and will not be used for any commercial interest of the researcher. References Innovative Research Universities Australia. May 2008. Funding the full cost of research. [Online] Page 4. August 7, 2009 from http://www.irua.edu.au/pdf/IRU%20AustraliaFullFundingforResearch.pdf Susan Ward. n.d. Customer Relationship Management. [Online]. August 7, 2009 from http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/marketing/g/crm.htm Thachappilly Gopinathan, March 9, 2009, Market Research – Importance, Goals and Methods, Marketing Research Focuses on Customers, Competitors and Conditions from http://businessmanagement.suite101.com/article.cfm/market_research_importance_goals_and_methods The Survey System. Choose interviewing methodology. n.d. [Online]. August 7, 2009 from http://www.surveysystem.com/sdesign.htm The Survey System. Creating a questionnaire. n.d. [Online]. August 7, 2009 from http://www.surveysystem.com/sdesign.htm University of Maine, n.d. Planning and Designing a Poster [Online]. August 7, 2009, para 3 from http://www.umaine.edu/printingservices/tips_poster_planning.htm Bibliographies Kapila, Uma (ed.), 2006-07, Indian Economy since Independence (18th Edition ) Kondabagil Jayaram, Managing Outsourced Services: Contingency Plans, Risk Management in Electronic Banking Little, I.M.D., Ahluwalia I.J. (ed), 1998, India’s Economic Reform and Development Essays for Manmohan Singh. Mankiw, N. Gregory, 2004, Macroeconomics (5th Edition) Mishra S.K., Puri V.K., 2005, Commercial Banking in India, Indian Economy (23rd Edition) National Consumer Council, 1983, Banking Services and the Consumer: A Report Peppers Don, Rogers Martha, 2004, Identifying Customers, Managing Customer Relationships. Reuse, Svend, 2007, Corporate Evaluation in the German Banking Sector. Zopounidis Constantin, 2002, New Trends in Banking Management Read More