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Moreover, it is important to have in mind that the researchers lack competences and experiences in terms of conducting interviews and developing a survey. To obtain validity and reliability it is important to develop questions in line with guidelines. It was the first time the researchers collected qualitative and quantitative data, where the researchers in retrospect acknowledge that some of the questions were difficult to answer for the participants. This could lead to some kind of bias where the participants were confused, and thereby loses some of the reliability of the collected data.
Furthermore, some of the survey respondents are customer of more than one bank, which made it difficult to distinguish between which bank they were referring to throughout the questionnaire.
Finally, the researchers wanted to research a relatively new and interesting research field, which contributes to some lack of previous studies regarding blockchain technology. The literature review builds the foundation to explore the research objectives, which to some degree could be inadequate.
In addition, due to the immaturity of the technology and as a new phenomenon, the interview participants’ answers could to some extent be characterised as general where the level of knowledge differed. Some of the interview participants are experts in the field of DLT and thereby contributed more to the topic. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that they also might be more biased based on their knowledge and expertise. However, the mentioned aspect is critically taken into consideration when the qualitative data was interpreted and analysed, but still represents a limitation to the study.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the barriers and facilitators identified are limited to the scope of this thesis and what was obtained from the data collected, and thus are not reflected and representative in its entirety.
7.2. Recommendations for Further Research
The possibilities of further research in the area of analysing blockchain technology within the banking industry are substantial. In particular, the potential of blockchain and increased efficient cross-border payment are two scopes where available research will increase as time passes. The research findings reveal that there is some demand for cross-border payments for retail customers, but the demand of corporate customers might be more dominant. Specifically, this research highlights that corporate customers expect that cross-border payments should be added in their value chain due to lack of digitalisation of trade finance (Niederkorn et al., 2016). Indeed, the banks emphasised that due to the early development stage of blockchain, the exploration of new technologies could be more prioritised
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for corporate customers. One approach for further research is to investigate how the corporate customers evaluate the processes today with cross-border payments and if there is high enough demand. Moreover, including several small size banks as well as larger banks to get more extensive and diverse perspectives. There might be bigger differences based on size between banks’
perspective, than this research has managed to cover. For instance, Sparebanken Vest does not offer cross-border payments unless you activated it, where there could be identified products that not all banks provide for all customer segments. This could contribute to higher incentives for FinTechs to offer those products and act as competitors. When developing the research design, it can be suggested to choose another methodical design for the data collection, for example, a survey as the main method accompanied by interviews. This would contribute to a further in-depth understanding of corporate customers’ opinion and build an interesting foundation for the discussion.
Furthermore, in line with the findings and literature uncovering expectation of corporate customers who experience lack of digital solutions in trade finance, the researchers suggest to further investigate the trade finance use case. This research pinpoints some of the advantages of trade finance, but do not elaborate in-depth its potentials with DLT due to the scope of the thesis. An interesting approach is thereby to investigate how blockchain in comparison to other technologies can make the process more secure and easier. Moreover, it could be interesting to research if it is possible to implement blockchain in the already existing systems or if it would mean a complete replacement. In light of this, investigating advantages and disadvantages of cost and value the changes would contribute to.
As highlighted with Ripple, it could be a challenge with the different currencies and the exchange, but there might be simpler solutions for trade finance. Some of the banks are already exploring the opportunities of trade finance with the Marco Polo project, which would provide some existing literature on the topic and building a foundation for further research.
Thirdly, KYC was emphasised as a potential use case for blockchain. The blockchain attributes in similarity to the trade finance use case could increase the efficiency of the verification process. A further examination could be how the usage will get easier and work in practice. The research until now has covered technological aspects with blockchain, where there is lack of a practical business approach in relation to the functionality. It might be too early at this point in time, but more evidence
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is expected to arise in the future, since it will benefit both banks and customers. Thereby, the potential for banks and customers could give a more solid literature foundation for further research.
Finally, due to the radicalness and immaturity of blockchain, regulations in Norway do not incorporate DLT and exchange of cryptocurrencies yet. This makes it more difficult to investigate how implementation would work. Therefore, one interesting approach could be to investigate a country that is further ahead with DLT, such as for example Estonian. Estonian has implemented digital citizenship and been one of the countries that have explored blockchain technology from the beginning (Sullivan and Burger, 2017). Exploring Estonia’s regulation and incorporation of DLT could give an understanding of how other countries could implement the technology. Moreover, an interesting angle could be to compare how Estonian has solved it so far with blockchain compared to how the Norwegian market could do it.
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