Edinburgh Napier University

  In 2011 it was reported that Bahrain was the country with the highest increase in absolute Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Development Index (IDI) (International Telecommunication Union, 2012). In 2011 the number of internet users in Bahrain climbed from 55% in 2010 to 77%. It was noted that 90% of the Bahraini households own a computer and 77% were connected to the internet (International Telecommunication Union, 2012). With the increased access to Internet and improved internet infrastructure, internet slowly but surely penetrates Bahraini consumers’ lifestyles. Technology plays an important role in Bahrain, especially within the banking industry, which is very information intensive and a sensitive activity in nature. This industry relies heavily on information technology (IT) to acquire, process, and deliver the information to all involved parties. Not only is IT critical in the processing of information, it is the current tool for banks to differentiate their products and services. Bahraini banks find that they have to constantly be creative and up to date with the technology to retain their customers by providing them with a unique service that would keep them satisfied particularly with strong competition from other international banks which opened branches in Bahrain. The aim of this paper is to examine the motivation and perception of Bahraini female consumers in adopting online banking services. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no empirical studies which examine Bahraini female consumer behaviour in terms of the adoption of internet banking. Therefore, this study proposed and tested research hypotheses which were developed based upon the modification of Davis, Bagozzi and Warshow (1989)’s Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).