Strategies for building and communicating trust in electronic banking: A field experiment

Abstract

The strong association between the high levels of trust and the banking sector has not yet been translated in the electronic world to its full potential. For the future growth of e-banking the issues of security and privacy must be removed. In an experimental setting, this study examines the effectiveness of potential trust-building strategies for e-banking and their impact on on-line customers' perceptions of trustworthiness of the bank, by specifically focusing on the information clues presented on the bank's Web site. Structural assurance and situational normality mechanisms both had an impact on customers' trustworthiness perceptions, suggesting that banks need to use a portfolio of strategies to build the customer's trust. The results further suggest that communication of meaningful and timely information has the potential to influence customers' trusting intentions. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.