Blockchain Technology Acceptance in Iran's Banking Industry

Abstract

Banking industry affected by economic transformation, internet development, and financial innovations. Hence, the banking industry requires urgent transformation and is seeking new growth avenues. On the other hand, blockchain technology is a disruptive technology that changes business models. Using distributed software architecture and advanced computing, blockchain can change the way information is exchanged between actors in the chain. Therefore, the research purpose is to identify the influential factors in the acceptance and then application of blockchain in Iran's banking industry. This research is applied and descriptive correlational method was used. The UTAUT - Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology – has been contextually used as the theoretical model of the research. Moreover, the statistical population of the research is all the employees in banking industry in Shiraz. For data analysis, structural equation modeling and Smart PLS software have been used. The results accentuated and proved the positive impacts of Performance expectancy, Effort expectancy, social influence and Individual factors on the intention to use blockchain technology. Moreover, the last but not least important factor, was the impact of Behavioral Intention on the actual use of blockchain technology. As a result, in Iran's banking system, the use of blockchain is being accepted as a way of rolling out economic constraints and making commercial payments.

Keywords

• blockchain
• banking industry
• technology acceptance
• industry 4