A framework for measuring the adoption factors in digital mobile payments in the COVID-19 era

Purpose This study aims to identify the acceptance factors in the UAE for the digital mobile payment market, introduces a new hierarchical framework based on the continuation intention factors and prioritises the importance of the acceptance criteria and sub-criteria. Design/methodology/approach The measurement of acceptance factors in payment systems is a complex and unstructured topic involving many criteria and sub-criteria, which requires breaking the problem down into several components organised in a hierarchical multi-level form. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology manages the complexity of multi-criteria decision-making processes based on a new set of criteria connected to the adoption and continuance intention factors. Findings The AHP framework developed a ranking of 18 sustainability sub-factors based on evaluations by experienced payment professionals. Research limitations/implications The future directions of the research would be to investigate the impact of dynamic capabilities on the resilience of retail service networks, especially during COVID-19, where supply and demand are highly indeterminate. Practical implications Through successive stages of data collection, measurement analysis and refinement, the contribution of this research is a reliable and valid framework that can be used to conceptualise and prioritise sustainability strategies in payment management. Originality/value Given the lowest mobile payment products penetration rates of the UAE and the scarcity of literature on this topic, this study aims to contribute to the knowledge by including UTAUT, the IS success model and the impact of COVID-19 as adoption and continuance intention factor in the digital mobile payment case in the UAE.