Electronic Commerce Benefits, Challenges And Success Factors In The Australian Banking And Finance Industry

This paper reports on part of a wider study into electronic commerce (e-commerce) benefits, challenges and success factors in Australian businesses, with particular reference to the banking and finance industry. The findings indicate that the major benefits to this industry sector from adoption of e-commerce are increased sales, business efficiency, competitive advantage, increased automation of processes and retained and increased customer base. The key challenges identified for the sector include the costs of the technology, lack of e-commerce knowledge, budgeting, acquiring IT skilled people and customer service. Secure transactions were not considered a major challenge by this sector; rather they were regarded as one of the success factors, along with support from top management, a functional and user-friendly web site, partnerships with technology providers and an effective project leader. Participating companies correctly estimated the majority of challenges posed by the adoption of e-commerce, however they did not anticipate the difficulties of acquiring skilled staff to design, implement and manage the IT aspects of the transition.