고령층의 스마트 기기 활용능력에 따른 핀테크 이용에 관한 연구

The fintech (financial technology) industry has grown rapidly in recent years by applying advanced IT technology to financial services, enabling convenient payment, asset management, banking services, etc. through smart devices. However, the adoption of these services shows a wide generational gap with the low usage rate of the elderly, leading to a provoked digital divide phenomenon between generations. In this context, this study aims to investigate whether the smart device utilization skills of the elderly affect their use of mobile transfer and payment services and whether privacy concerns moderate these effects. The analysis is based on the data from the 2021 Korea Media Panel Survey conducted annually by the Korea Information Society Development Institute. It was collected from June to July in 2021, targeting a total of 10,154 individuals nationwide. The study focused on elderly individuals who are 65 years of age or older, use smart devices and engage in online activities. Out of 2,352 elderly participants in the survey, a total of 1,418 were selected for analysis. Mobile transfer and payment services have become increasingly popular in Korea due to their convenience and simplicity. KakaoPay, provided by platform companies, and Sol-pay, provided by financial institutions, are examples of mobile transfer and payment services that are widely used in Korea. Specifically, mobile transfer services refer to services that support money transfers and other transactions through mobile devices without additional authentication or identification procedures. Mobile payment services refer to services that allow users to make a payment simply by entering passwords or holding a mobile device near the payment terminal. Smart device utilization skills refer to the abilities to use a smart device (smartphone, tablet PC, etc.) without the help of others. In this study, 'basic utilization skill’ refers to the ability to view or send texts and instant messages on a smart device. 'Search utilization skill’ asks about the ability to access and search for information on a smart device, such as setting up a wireless network or visiting websites. ‘Security utilization skill’ was measured with the ability to detect and treat malicious code, report or block spam and phishing messages, and other similar abilities. To measure privacy concerns as moderator, related questions were used to ask about the experience of concerns about privacy violations in online activities. Moreover, residential area, gender, income, presence of digital assistants, and educational level were also analyzed as control variables. As Table 1 and 2 shows, it was found that all three independent variables of basic, search, and security utilization skills had a significant positive effect on the use of mobile transfer and payment services. In particular, the impact of security utilization skill was relatively high. The presence of digital assistants, one of the control variables, measured by the co-residence with children, had a significant impact on increasing the use of mobile transfer services but not on payment services. As for the moderator variable, it was found that the impact of search and security utilization skills on the use of mobile transfer service is moderated by privacy concerns. This study provides an understanding of the factors that influence the use of fintech services of the elderly in circumstances where two social changes - aging and digitization of the financial industry - are rapidly taking place. Findings of this study suggest that efforts to improve the basic, search, and security skills to use smart devices are necessary to promote the use of fintech services of elderly customers. Specifically, improving security utilization skill such as personal information protection, malware inspection, spam and phishing reporting/blocking is considered important. Fintech platforms can provide user support or guidelines specialized for the elderly along with improving accessibility of UX/UI of their services. In the case of mobile transfer services, even if the search or security utilization skills are high, privacy concerns can hinder the use of fintech services, so it is recommended to develop strategies to reduce customers' privacy concerns, such as campaigns to enhance the safety and trust of the service.