FinTech payments in the era of COVID-19: Factors influencing behavioral intentions of “Generation X” in Hungary to use mobile payment

Organizations, such as the World Health Organization, encouraged consumers to use contactless payment methods instead of payment methods such as cash, which can be carriers of the SARS-2 virus. This study aims to evaluate factors that influence Hungarian Generation X’s behavioral intentions to use mobile payment services during the pandemic. We conducted an electronic questionnaire-based survey among 1120 Generation X individuals. Using structural equation modeling to analyze the study’s conceptual model, our results confirm that perceived COVID-19 risk, perceived usefulness, and subjective norms significantly influence Hungarian Generation X’s behavioral intentions to use mobile payment services. Moreover, perceived usefulness mediates the relationship between perceived ease of use and behavioral intention to use mobile payment systems. Overall, our results show that the model of perceived COVID-19 risk, perceived usefulness, subjective norms, and perceived ease of use explains 62.9% of the variance in intention to use mobile payment systems. Our study contributes to the technology acceptance model and highlights its effectiveness in explaining the behavioral intention to adopt mobile payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.