Exploring Small and Medium Enterprises Expectations of Electronic Payment in Kuwait
Ayman Hassan, Arezou Harraf, and Wael Abdalla
Abstract Electronic payments are among the topics on the top of regulators’ agendas around the globe. This trend gained further momentum with the lockdown and other measures to front the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study aims to explore Kuwaiti small and medium enterprises’ expectations of e-payment services. Semistructured interviews were conducted with nine participants, either founders or directors of Kuwaiti SMEs. The collected data were analyzed using phenomenological analysis. Findings revealed seven main themes: payment gateway and Infrastructure, clarity, and communications, cost, settlement Period, rigid regulation, perceived benefits, and expected services. The results are meant to give directions that the Kuwaiti Central Bank can build upon to further develop the regulatory framework and infrastructure in a manner that is more inclusive of the SME segment.