CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
There are few
innovations that have changed the dynamics of banking as much as the e-banking
revolution. Throughout the world, banks are reorganizing their business
strategies to take advantage of new business opportunities offered by
e-banking. Electronic banking is believed to have started in the early 1980s.
It has since then been growing in an unprecedented dimension in line with the
growth in ICT development. E-banking has enabled banks to overcome borders,
adopt strategic outlook, and bring in new possibilities. According to Nitsure(2003),
information communication technology has reduced the cost of processing and
facilitating the transmission of information leading to drastic changes in the
banking business. It is worth noting that e-banking has not been limited to
advanced countries, but is found even in countries with underdeveloped
e-banking systems, as a result of the many new business opportunities offered
by e-banking.
Although no official
definition of e-banking has been established, it generally implies a service
that allows customers to use some form of computer to access account-specific
information and possibly conduct transactions from a remote location like home
or workplace. Additionally, e-banking has obvious advantages to the customer in
terms of convenience where customers conduct routine banking transactions from
the comfort and security of any location from which they wish to transact. The
emerging concept of e-banking has drawn the attention of the business
fraternity as well as of scholars and researchers to the effects of such
dynamics on the banking industry. For instance, Liao and Wong (2008) in their
study of the determinants of customer interactions with Internet-enabled
e-banking found that factors such as perceived usefulness, ease of use,
security, convenience, and responsiveness to service requests to be a strong
measure of the variation in customer interactions. Based on this finding, they
suggested that stringent security control is critical to e-banking operations.
Such arguments do not only have managerial implications for enhancing Internet
banking operations and developing viable electronic banking services, but also
form the basis upon which this study is based.
E-banking technology
created a revolution by extending banking hours beyond office hours and beyond
national boundaries (Balachandran&Balachandher, 2000). In Nigeria, several
studies on e-banking have been done. Chiemeke, Evwiekpaefe, &Chete(2006),
for instance, conducted a pragmatic study on adoption of e-banking where major
hindering factors to Internet banking adoption such as insecurity and
inadequate operational facilities, including telecommunications facilities and
electricity supply, were identified.
Crime and corruption
represent a major concern for business executives not only in Nigeria but also
in other parts of Africa (Olasanmi, 2006). In Nigeria, for instance, the most
serious impediments to economic activities and business are crime and
corruption which averages 75% and 71% respectively. Theft and fraud are the
second most popular crimes after burglary. By definition, cyber crime may be
referred to as any form of misconduct in cyber space. It is simply defined as
the criminal use of the Internet. Cyber crime is believed to have started in
the 1960’s in the form of hacking. This was followed by privacy violations,
telephone tapping, trespassing and distribution of illegal materials in the
1970s. The 1980s witnessed the introduction of viruses. The fast pace of
development of ICT from the 1990s till today has added to the list of criminal
exploits in cyber space. Today, the Internet is used for espionage and as a
medium to commit terrorism and transnational crimes. With e-banking gaining
ground in Nigeria and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, customers and online
buyers are facing great risk of unknowingly passing on their information to
fraudsters. "Hackers” get information of those who have made purchases
through websites and then make fake cards, which they use with less detection.
Absence of a law specifically dealing with card-related crimes in Nigeria may
be giving thieves a loophole to operate freely (Olasanmi, 2006). Police treat
card-related crimes like any other case of fraud.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
This study is
examining the types of cybercrimes that have economic impact either directly or
indirectly on the financial system of a nation or having cross border ripple
effects with focus on e-banking. Longe&Chiemeke (2008) simplified the list
of unintended consequences of ICT to include acts such as Phishing, cyber
terrorism, electronic spam mails, cyber-stalking, and fake copy -cat websites.
While some types of cyber crimes are specific to Nigeria, other types, such as
identity theft and false statements, cut across all countries.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following are the objectives of this study:
1. To
evaluate the relationship between e-banking and cyber crime.
2. To
identify factors militating against effective e-banking services.
3. To
determine the solution to the issues of cybercrimes that are related to
e-banking.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What
is the relationship between e-banking and cyber crime?
2. What
are factors militating against effective e-banking services?
3. What
is the solution to the issues of cybercrimes that are related to e-banking?
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
HO: There is no significant
relationship between e-banking and cybercrime.
HA: There is significant relationship
between e-banking and cybercrime.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The following are the significance of this study:
1. The
outcome of this study will educate the general public especially the users of
e-banking services on the relationship between e-banking and cybercrime.
2. This
research will be a contribution to the body of literature in the area of the
effect of personality trait on student’s academic performance, thereby
constituting the empirical literature for future research in the subject area.
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This study will cover the relationship between
e-banking services and cybercrime in Nigeria using Fidelity Bank Plc as the
case.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the
efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature
or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire
and interview).
Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously
engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down
on the time devoted for the research work