Partial resistance to digital payments in an emerging economy: a conundrum

Purpose This paper investigates the continued use of traditional check-based payment systems by corporate users in Bangladesh despite the availability of superior digital alternatives. It seeks to explain this paradox through the conceptual lens of partial resistance to innovation, a phenomenon we propose and develop. Design/methodology/approach We build on and extend the innovation resistance theory in a business-to-business context. Our methodology follows a two-stage design. In the first stage, we analyze a five-year time series dataset of interbank settlement transactions to identify persistent patterns in check usage despite the availability of digital alternatives. In the second stage, we conduct and analyze 51 in-depth interviews with top-level business executives from 32 companies and seven policy stakeholders to uncover the underlying reasons for this persistence. Using NVIVO 14, we extract themes reflecting functional, organizational, interorganizational and ecosystem-related antecedents of resistance. Findings We observe that while digital payments through real-time gross settlement (RTGS) are on the rise, the volume of check-based transactions has remained unchanged. This simultaneous adoption and persistence are not indicative of failure or rejection but a rational balancing of technological options. We theorize this pattern as partial resistance: an intermediate and dynamic state between acceptance and rejection of innovation. Originality/value The paper contributes conceptually by introducing partial resistance to innovation as a distinct theoretical construct and empirically by applying it to the underexplored domain of intercompany payment behavior using actual usage data. Partial resistance offers a more nuanced understanding of technology adoption, especially in institutional and infrastructural contexts that do not permit binary outcomes.