Keywords:
consumer confidence
fintech readiness
perceived security
financial service innovation
digital financial ecosystems
developing markets

  • Abstract

    Virtual banking is reshaping financial services in emerging economies, yet adoption remains uneven despite widespread technological readiness. This study aims to synthesize current evidence on the behavioral foundations of virtual banking adoption, focusing on trust, perceived risk, digital literacy, and consumer innovativeness. A systematic literature review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, drawing on peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2020 and 2025 across four major academic databases. Eight studies meeting rigorous inclusion criteria were analyzed using descriptive mapping and thematic synthesis. The findings demonstrate that trust is the most consistent and influential driver of virtual banking adoption, while perceived risk, particularly related to data security and privacy, remains the strongest barrier. Digital literacy enhances users’ confidence and perceived control, thereby reducing uncertainty and facilitating engagement with digital-only financial services. Consumer innovativeness encourages exploratory behavior and early adoption, but its effect is contingent upon the presence of institutional credibility and regulatory assurance. Overall, the evidence suggests that adoption in emerging economies depends less on technological capability alone and more on users’ behavioral confidence shaped by psychological, social, and institutional conditions. Building on these insights, the study proposes a Behavioral Confidence Framework that conceptualizes virtual banking adoption as a dynamic process driven by confidence, competence, and curiosity. Confidence emerges when trust outweighs perceived risk, competence reflects users’ digital capability and self-efficacy, and curiosity captures the motivation to explore and sustain engagement with novel financial technologies. This framework extends traditional technology acceptance models by embedding behavioral depth and contextual sensitivity relevant to emerging economies. The findings offer practical guidance for policymakers and fintech providers seeking to design trust-centric, literacy-driven, and innovation-enabled virtual banking ecosystems that promote financial inclusion and sustainable digital transformation across Asia.

  • References

    1. Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
    2. Akbari, M., Mahmoudzadeh Vashan, M., & Hakimpour, H. (2025). The identification of factors influencing the adoption of virtual banking and its consequences. International Journal of Nonlinear Analysis and Applications, 16(9), 57–71. https://doi.org/10.22075/ijnaa.2024.35407.5272
    3. Alalwan, A. A. (2018). Investigating the impact of social media advertising features on customer purchase intention. International Journal of Information Management, 42, 65–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.06.001
    4. Alalwan, A. A., Baabdullah, A. M., Rana, N. P., Tamilmani, K., & Dwivedi, Y. K. (2018). Examining adoption of mobile internet in Saudi Arabia: Extending TAM with perceived enjoyment, innovativeness and trust. Technology in Society, 55, 100–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2018.06.007
    5. Alalwan, A. A., Dwivedi, Y. K., Rana, N. P., & Algharabat, R. (2018). Examining factors influencing Jordanian customers’ intentions and adoption of internet banking: Extending UTAUT2 with risk. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 40, 125–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.08.026
    6. Alhassan, H., Kwakwa, P. A., & Donkoh, S. A. (2022). The interrelationships among financial development, economic growth and environmental sustainability: Evidence from Ghana. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 29(24), 37057–37070. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-18239-y
    7. Banker, S., & Khetani, S. (2019). Algorithm overdependence: How the use of algorithmic recommendation systems can increase risks to consumer well-being. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 38(4), 500–515. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743915619858057
    8. Barquin, S., & Vinayak, H. (2015). Digital banking in Asia: What do consumers really want. McKinsey & Company.
    9. Cainey, A. (2014). Technology: The impact on Asian finance. Asian Development Bank.
    10. Cenfetelli, R. T. (2004). Inhibitors and enablers as dual factor concepts in technology usage. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 5(11), Article 16. https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00059
    11. Chan, R. S. Y., Leung, W. K., & Young, A. (2025). A matter of trust? Perceptions about the adoption of virtual banking services in Hong Kong. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 43(9), 1910–1937. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-06-2025-0436
    12. Creutz, K. (2023). Multilateral development banks as agents of connectivity: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). East Asia, 40(3), 335–356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12140-022-09399-5
    13. Davis, F. D. (1989). Technology acceptance model: TAM. In M. N. Al-Suqri & A. S. Al-Aufi (Eds.), Information seeking behavior and technology adoption (pp. 205–219). IGI Global.
    14. Didenko, N. I., Romashkina, G. F., Skripnuk, D. F., & Kulik, S. V. (2020). Dynamics of trust in institutions, the legitimacy of the social order, and social open innovation. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 6(4), Article 111. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc6040111
    15. Featherman, M. S., & Pavlou, P. A. (2003). Predicting e-services adoption: A perceived risk facets perspective. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 59(4), 451–474. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1071-5819(03)00111-3
    16. Gefen, D., Rao, V. S., & Tractinsky, N. (2003). The conceptualization of trust, risk and their relationship in electronic commerce: The need for clarifications. In Proceedings of the 36th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2003.1174442
    17. Gilster, P. (1997). Digital literacy. Wiley Computer Publishing.
    18. Jain, S., & Sahu, J. P. (2025). Banking the unbanked: Exploring the impact of internet penetration on accessibility to banking services in developed and developing economies. Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance, 27(1), 94–115. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPRG-02-2024-0021
    19. Kaabachi, S., Ben Mrad, S., & Petrescu, M. (2017). Consumer initial trust toward internet-only banks in France. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 35(6), 903–924. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-09-2016-0140
    20. Kaewnin, T. (2024). Factors affecting consumers’ adoption of virtual banks in Thailand. ABAC Journal, 44(4), 500.
    21. Kaur, S. J., Ali, L., Hassan, M. K., & Al-Emran, M. (2021). Adoption of digital banking channels in an emerging economy: Exploring the role of in-branch efforts. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 26(2), Article 107. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41264-020-00082-w
    22. Kaur, S., & Arora, S. (2021). Role of perceived risk in online banking and its impact on behavioral intention: Trust as a moderator. Journal of Asia Business Studies, 15(1), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1108/JABS-08-2019-0252
    23. Kehr, F., Kowatsch, T., Wentzel, D., & Fleisch, E. (2015). Blissfully ignorant: The effects of general privacy concerns, general institutional trust, and affect in the privacy calculus. Information Systems Journal, 25(6), 607–635. https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12062
    24. Khan, A. P., Khan, S., & Xiang, I. A. R. (2017). Factors influencing consumer intentions to adopt online banking in Malaysia. Business & Economic Review, 9(2), 101–134. https://doi.org/10.22547/ber/9.2.5
    25. Koskelainen, T., Kalmi, P., Scornavacca, E., & Vartiainen, T. (2023). Financial literacy in the digital age—A research agenda. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 57(1), 507–528. https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12510
    26. Kowsar, M. M., Islam, S., Mohiuddin, M., & Siddiqui, N. A. (2025). Digitization in retail banking: A review of customer engagement and financial product adoption in South Asia. ASRC Procedia: Global Perspectives in Science and Scholarship, 1(1), 42–46. https://doi.org/10.63125/cv50rf30
    27. Kraiwanit, T., Shaengchart, Y., Limna, P., Thetlek, R., & Moolngearn, P. (2024). The strategy of virtual banking adoption in the digital economy. Corporate & Business Strategy Review, 5(1), 264–272. https://doi.org/10.22495/cbsrv5i1siart1
    28. Law, S. W. (2024). Financial inclusion, technology and virtual banking. Springer.
    29. Lee, J.-C., & Chen, X. (2022). Exploring users' adoption intentions in the evolution of artificial intelligence mobile banking applications: The intelligent and anthropomorphic perspectives. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 40(4), 631–658. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-08-2021-0394
    30. Liao, S., Shao, Y. P., Wang, H., & Chen, A. (1999). The adoption of virtual banking: An empirical study. International Journal of Information Management, 19(1), 63–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0268-4012(98)00047-4
    31. Lockett, A. G., & Holland, C. (1996). The formation of a virtual global bank. European Journal of Information Systems, 5(2), 131–140. https://doi.org/10.1057/ejis.1996.19
    32. Mangini, E. R., Silva, N. G., & de Carvalho, J. R. C. (2020). Virtual banks and the perceived risk and development and effort expectancy on behavioral intention. REMark – Revista Brasileira de Marketing, 19(4), Article 838. https://doi.org/10.5585/remark.v19i4.16283
    33. Manning, K. C., Bearden, W. O., & Madden, T. J. (1995). Consumer innovativeness and the adoption process. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 4(4), 329–345. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327663jcp0404_02
    34. McKnight, D. H., Carter, M., Thatcher, J. B., & Clay, P. F. (2011). Trust in a specific technology: An investigation of its components and measures. ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems, 2(2), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1145/1985347.1985353
    35. Midgley, D. F., & Dowling, G. R. (1993). A longitudinal study of product form innovation: The interaction between predispositions and social messages. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(4), 611–625. https://doi.org/10.1086/209326
    36. Minchan-Wolstrohn, M., & Rodríguez-Serra, M. (2025). Banking without borders: What drives neobank use in Peru. Issues in Information Systems, 26(2), 185–200.
    37. Mishchenko, S., Naumenkova, S., Mishchenko, V., & Dorofeiev, D. (2021). Innovation risk management in financial institutions. Investment Management and Financial Innovations, 18(1), 190–202. https://doi.org/10.21511/imfi.18(1).2021.16
    38. Monaghan, S., Tippmann, E., & Coviello, N. (2020). Born digitals: Thoughts on their internationalization and a research agenda. Journal of International Business Studies, 51(1), 11–22. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-019-00290-0
    39. Mueller, J. (2021). Virtual rush: The race for virtual banks in the Asia-Pacific region. In K. T. Liaw (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of FinTech (pp. 232–262). Routledge.
    40. Murshudli, F., & Loguinov, B. (2019). Digitalization challenges to global banking industry. In Economic and Social Development: Book of Proceedings (pp. 786–794).
    41. Nagy, S., Molnár, L., & Papp, A. (2024). Customer adoption of neobank services from a technology acceptance perspective: Evidence from Hungary. Decision Making: Applications in Management and Engineering, 7(1), 187–208. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4858799
    42. Nam, E.-Y., & Yi, W. (2020). The internal resources of Chinese internet primary banks based on the VRIO framework: A case study of WeBank. The e-Business Studies [e-비즈니스연구], 21(1), 33–52.
    43. Nguyen, P. N. T., & Vo, D. V. (2025). Exploring digital competence and its relationship with problem-solving self-efficacy in undergraduate students. Asian Education and Development Studies. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-12-2024-0299
    44. Nguyen, T. V., & McCahery, J. (2020). Virtual bank by FinTech firms: Global trending, challenges, solutions and experience of regulating virtual banks in Vietnam (Master’s thesis, Tilburg University). TiU Repository.
    45. Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., & Brennan, S. E. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, Article n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
    46. Palos-Sánchez, P. R., Chang-Tam, R. J., & Folgado-Fernández, J. A. (2025). The role of neobanks and FinTech in sustainable finance and technology: The customer/user perspective for entrepreneurs. Sustainable Technology and Entrepreneurship, Article 100109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stae.2025.100109
    47. Panfil, C., & Cristafovici, P. (2024). Current trends in the innovation process within the global banking industry. In Proceedings of the Annual International Scientific Conference “Competitiveness and Innovation in the Knowledge Economy” (pp. 88–93). https://doi.org/10.24818/cike2024.09
    48. Parasuraman, A., & Colby, C. L. (2015). An updated and streamlined technology readiness index: TRI 2.0. Journal of Service Research, 18(1), 59–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670514539730
    49. Reddy, P., Sharma, B., & Chaudhary, K. (2020). Digital literacy: A review of literature. International Journal of Technoethics, 11(2), 65–94.
    50. Rogers, E. M., Singhal, A., & Quinlan, M. M. (2014). Diffusion of innovations. In D. W. Stacks, M. B. Salwen, & K. C. Eichhorn (Eds.), An integrated approach to communication theory and research (pp. 432–448). Routledge.
    51. Rybacki, P. (2022). Revolut’s revolution: The rise of a digital bank (Master’s thesis).
    52. Saif, M. A., Hussin, N., Husin, M. M., Alwadain, A., & Chakraborty, A. (2022). Determinants of the intention to adopt digital-only banks in Malaysia: The extension of environmental concern. Sustainability, 14(17), Article 11043. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141711043
    53. Salampasis, D., Mention, A.-L., & Torkkeli, M. (2014). Open innovation and collaboration in the financial services sector: Exploring the role of trust. International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 8(5), 466–484. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBIR.2014.064609
    54. Sammour, A., & Chen, W. (2019). Artificial intelligence and customer service in banking: The bank of the future Monzo [Speech]. In Artificial Intelligence and Data – Disruptions to Society, Organisations and People.
    55. Schatt, D. (2014). Virtual banking: A guide to innovation and partnering. John Wiley & Sons.
    56. Sha, N., & Mohammad, S. (2017). Virtual banking and online business. Banks and Bank Systems, 12(1), 75–81. https://doi.org/10.21511/BBS.12(1).2017.09
    57. Sjöberg, L. (2008). Antagonism, trust and perceived risk. Risk Management, 10(1), 32–55. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.rm.8250039
    58. Sloboda, L. Y., & Demianyk, O. M. (2020). Prospects and risks of the fintech initiatives in a global banking industry. Problems of Economics, 1(43), 275–282. https://doi.org/10.32983/2222-0712-2020-1-275-282
    59. Soelasih, Y., Sorongan, F. A., & Legowo, M. B. (2025). Building attitude, trust, and social influence in increasing behavioral intention to use neobank. Quality – Access to Success, 26(206). https://doi.org/10.47750/QAS/26.206.24
    60. Templier, M., & Paré, G. (2015). A framework for guiding and evaluating literature reviews. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 37(1), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.17705/1CAIS.03706
    61. Tinmaz, H., Lee, Y.-T., Fanea-Ivanovici, M., & Baber, H. (2022). A systematic review on digital literacy. Smart Learning Environments, 9(1), Article 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-022-00204-y
    62. Tkachenko, O. (2020). Mission of the virtual bank in digitalized space. Social Economics, (60), 192–202. https://doi.org/10.26565/2524-2547-2020-60-18
    63. Tuli, E. (2024). Exploring digital banking adoption in developing Asian economies: Systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis. International Social Science Journal, 74(252), 399–426. https://doi.org/10.1111/issj.12463
    64. Vafaei-Zadeh, A., Nikbin, D., Teoh, K. Y., & Hanifah, H. (2025). Cybersecurity awareness and fear of cyberattacks among online banking users in Malaysia. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 43(3), 476–505. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-03-2024-0138
    65. Vasiliu-Feltes, I. (2024). Safeguarding financial resilience through digital trust and responsible innovation. Journal of Risk Management in Financial Institutions, 17(2), 130–141. https://doi.org/10.69554/PWOV3485
    66. Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478.
    67. Vijayaraghavan, M. (2023). The Asian Development Bank and evaluation in Asia and the Pacific. In The institutionalisation of evaluation in Asia-Pacific (pp. 419–433). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36918-6_13
    68. Vives, X. (2019). Digital disruption in banking. Annual Review of Financial Economics, 11(1), 243–272. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-financial-100719-120854
    69. Yang, M., Yew, L. K., Hai, S. T., Kowang, T. O., Hoo, W. C., Hong, A. N. H., & Kiong, T. P. (2022). Customer experience, brand innovativeness, word of mouth and brand equity of banks in China. NeuroQuantology, 20(6), 145–154.
    70. Zaimovic, A., Meskovic, M. N., Dedovic, L., Arnaut-Berilo, A., Zaimovic, T., & Torlakovic, A. (2024). Measuring digital financial literacy. Procedia Computer Science, 236, 574–581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2024.05.068
    71. Zhu, D.-S., O’Neal, G. S., Lee, Z.-C., & Chen, Y.-H. (2009). The effect of trust and perceived risk on consumers’ online purchase intention. In 2009 International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering (pp. 771–776). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/CSE.2009.338
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2026 The Authors

How to cite

Wisedpanich, N., & Wittayakom, S. (2026). Toward a behavioral framework for virtual banking adoption: A systematic review integrating trust, risk, digital literacy, and innovativeness in emerging economies. Multidisciplinary Reviews, 9(9), 2026456. https://doi.org/10.31893/multirev.2026456
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC
  • Article viewed - 322
  • PDF downloaded - 199