ONEMONEY - A DESIGN SCIENCE RESEARCH ARTIFACT FOR MOBILE REMITTANCES FROM THE USA TO ZAMBIA

Within the context of global mobile money providers (MMPs) like Western Union, bill payment has become a prominent offering with a transaction volume of $88 billion between MMPs and service providers like utility companies. There are, however, currently no MMP offerings or remittance services that specifically allow Zambians in the US diaspora (remitters) to make direct bill payments to service providers in Zambia for essential goods and services like food, education services, or utilities consumed by their friends and families still living in Zambia. To address this gap, the study introduces OneMoney, a mobile application prototype developed to facilitate direct bill payments from remitters in the US diaspora to service providers in Zambia. The scope of the study is focused on the remitter’s usability experience with the prototype, of which the study identified seven key usability attributes that enhanced their user experience. Overall, users found the prototype intuitive and easy to use and gave it a usability score of 92.95 out of 100. The study used the Cognitive Walkthrough and System Usability Scale evaluation methods to evaluate the usability of the prototype. The design science research (DSR) methodology guided the development and evaluation of the prototype through the Mental Modal theoretical lens. This study is significant because it provides a proof of concept that remitters in the US diaspora can utilize the prototype to make direct bill payments to service providers in Zambia for goods and services consumed by their beneficiaries. Future research will examine the usability of the prototype from the beneficiary’s perspective.