Influence of Innovation on The Performance of Commercial Banks in Nakuru Central Business District
Kenyan commercial banks have continued to use huge investments in innovations and Training of manpower to handle new technologies. The fast changing competitive environment, globalization, economic changes, regulation, privatization and the like demands that commercial banks are run efficiently and effectively by continuously engaging in innovations. The relationship between the growing investment in bank innovations and bank financial performance in Kenya needs to be studied. If an organization is not capable of introducing innovations on an ongoing basis, it risks that it will lag behind and the initiative will be taken over by other entities. The main objective of the study was to establish the effect of financial innovations on financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to; find out the impact of mobile technology on financial performance of commercial banks, to examine the effect of agent banking on financial performance of commercial banks, to find out the effect of internet banking on financial performance of commercial banks and to investigate the effects of banc assurance on financial performance of commercial banks in Kenya. Population of study comprised of 45 commercial banks employees from 9 banks that use mobile banking, agent banking, internet banking and banc assurance in Nakuru. These banks are Cooperative bank, Kenya Commercial bank, Equity bank, Family bank, Chase bank, National Bank of Kenya, NIC bank, consolidated bank and DTB. Primary data was obtained through questionnaires which was carried out in commercial banks in Nakuru town and was evaluated using explanatory research design while a questionnaire was used to gather primary data. Secondary data was obtained from Central Bank of Kenya and banking survey manuals. The research adopted census technique where every element in the population was included; hence the population was 45. The analysis of the quantitative data was done using statistical package of social science (SPSS) software version 21. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the relationship between bank innovations and financial performance among commercial banks in Kenya. In addition, the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to test the direction and magnitude of the relationship between the dependent and independent variables.