Impact of Security features (Biometric Logins, MFA, OTP) on Trust and Adoption of Mobile Banking Applications: An Urban Phnom Penh Perspective

Mobile banking has expanded rapidly in Phnom Penh, offering users convenient access to financial services through smartphones. Despite this growth, concerns related to security, privacy, and unauthorized access continue to influence users’ perceived security, trust, and adoption behavior. While most mobile banking applications incorporate visible security features such as biometric authentication and one-time passwords (OTPs) or multi-factor authentication (MFA), it remains unclear how these features shape perceived security, trust, and willingness to rely on mobile banking for financial transactions.

This study uses a quantitative research design to examine the influence of visible security features on trust and mobile banking adoption among urban users in Phnom Penh. Data were collected through an online survey distributed via Google Forms to active mobile banking users. A total of 500 responses were collected; after data screening and cleaning, 456 valid responses were retained for analysis using IBM SPSS Statistics. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson correlations, and multiple regression analyses were used to test hypotheses. To evaluate mechanism, a bootstrapped mediation analysis tests whether Trust transmits the effects of security features to adoption outcomes (Baron & Kenny, 1986; Preacher & Hayes, 2008; Hayes, 2022).

Results indicate that visible security features are positively associated with trust. Biometric authentication is positively associated with trust and perceived security; however, OTP/MFA demonstrates a stronger association with transaction willingness/adoption outcomes, leading to rejection of H3. Perceived security also positively predicts adoption and usage behavior.

The findings contribute evidence from an emerging-economy context and suggest that banks should combine low-friction access controls (biometrics) with higher-assurance transaction verification (OTP/MFA), supported by clear user-facing security communication, to strengthen trust and accelerate adoption.