Technology Acceptance And Customer Adoption Of Cashless Payment Systems: A Study Of ECG Ghana

Abstract

This study examines the determinants of customer adoption of cashless payment systems at the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as its guiding framework. As public utilities increasingly digitalize their service delivery processes to improve efficiency, transparency, and revenue assurance, understanding the behavioural and structural factors that shape customer adoption has become critical, particularly in developing-country contexts where cash-based practices remain deeply entrenched. The study specifically investigates the effects of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions on customers’ behavioural intention, the relationship between facilitating conditions and actual usage, and the moderating roles of age, education, and digital literacy on the intention–adoption relationship. A quantitative research approach was adopted, employing an analytical cross-sectional survey design. Primary data were collected through a structured online questionnaire administered to ECG customers in selected operational areas. A total of one hundred and nine (109) valid responses were obtained and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Descriptive statistics, reliability and validity tests, correlation analysis, and structural model estimation were used to examine the hypothesized relationships. The findings reveal that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions all exert significant positive effects on customers’ behavioural intention to use ECG’s cashless payment systems, with performance expectancy and effort expectancy emerging as the strongest predictors. Facilitating conditions were found to have a significant direct influence on actual usage, highlighting the importance of infrastructural reliability, system stability, and institutional support in translating intention into sustained behaviour. Contrary to the original UTAUT propositions, age, education, and digital literacy did not significantly moderate the relationship between behavioural intention and adoption, suggesting that structural constraints overshadow individual-level differences in this context. The study concludes that customer adoption of cashless payment systems in public utilities is shaped not only by perceived usefulness and ease of use but also, and more critically, by the reliability of supporting infrastructure and the responsiveness of institutional support mechanisms. It argues that digitalization efforts in the public utility sector must move beyond technological deployment to address trust, service continuity, and user-centered system design. The study contributes to the technology acceptance literature by contextualizing UTAUT within a public utility environment and offers practical insights for ECG, policymakers, and digital service providers seeking to accelerate the transition toward cashless service delivery in Ghana.