DRIVERS OF CUSTOMER’S CHOICE OF MOBILE MONEY AGENT FOR MOBILE MONEY SERVICE IN KAMPALA, UGANDA

ABSTRACT Though the mobile money industry is growing with a significant potential ofenhancing financial inclusion and economic growth, mobile money services face a criticalchallenge of improving service quality to attract and retain customers. This article examines thedrivers of a customer’s choice of a mobile money agent for a mobile money service in Kampala.Specifically, the study explores the effect of courtesy and efficiency of mobile money agents as wellas cleanliness of their business premises. The analysis is based on data of 188 mobile money agentsand customers across all mobile money service providers in Uganda. The study adopted a crosssectionalsurvey method using a mixed methods research approach. The data was collected througha questionnaire and face-to-face interviews. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and thelinear regression model was fitted to determine the significant drivers for customers’ choice of amobile money agent. Descriptive statistics indicated a situation where mobile money agents aregenerally; courteous, efficient and operate from clean business premises.The regression modelresults revealed a significant influence (p<0.05) of courtesy and efficiency of the agent as well ascleanness of the business premises on customers’ choice of mobile money agents to transact with,affirming the hypothesized effect of these variables. The estimated coefficients indicated thatimproving courtesy and efficiency as well the cleanly-ness of the business premises was associatedwith more than 80% chance of attracting a customer to a particular mobile money agent. In lieu ofthe findings, the paper recommends strategic measures to all mobile money agents and serviceproviders in Uganda who wish to improve quality of their service, satisfy, attract and retaincustomers to their businesses. As a result, customers will see better or improved services from themobile money agents which in turn would contribute to the development of the mobile moneyindustry in Uganda.Key words: Mobile Money Services, Mobile Money Agents, Courtesy, Cleanliness, Efficiency,Choic