Title:

Change strategies in the transition towards a cashless banking system

Level:

Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration

Author:

Elin Lånström och Vildana Smailagic

Supervisor:

Stig Sörling

Date:

August 2013

Aim:

In our study, we compare what it is that drives a bank to implement changes in their business, what problems these changes may bring, and how organizations deal with these. We do this by studying how different banks choose to relate to the handling of cash.

The questions we ask ourselves are:

 What lies behind the decision to make changes in cash management?

 How is the change implemented in practice?

 What do banks think this change will mean for the future?

Method:

The study was conducted with the help of a qualitative scientific method. We conducted interviews with representatives of four banks, and made use of secondary data in the form of scientific literature and scientific articles.

Result & Conclusions:

Organizations implement changes in order to adapt and achieve balance with their environment but also within the organization itself. Our study shows that the decision to introduce cashless branches is mainly a result of banks' efforts to become more cost efficient. Practically banks’ daily activities aren’t affected as much because cash management is not a big part of it in any event. Although more and more banks choose not to hold cash at their branches, our study shows that most of them still believe that cash will survive for a long time to come.

Suggestions for future research:

It would be interesting to conduct a study that highlights this issue from a perspective that compares the expectations expressed by our respondents with the actual outcome.

Contribution of the thesis:

This study helps to provide a deeper understanding of the difficulties that may arise in the context of change.

Key words:

cashless, change process, change strategies, cost efficiency, institutional change