Information and communication technology (ICT) and the performance of microfinance Banks in Akwa Ibom state

The 21st century economy has been technology driven in all forms of business for effective productivity and profit maximization, and microfinance Banks are not left out. Information and communication technology (ICT) has helped microfinance Banks in efficient and effective service delivery to their customers and business processes, managerial decision making and work group collaborations which in turn strengthens their competitive positions in a rapidly changing and emerging economies. The paper examines the impact of ICT on the performance of microfinance Banks in Akwa Ibom state. The study adopted a survey research design and the simple random sampling approach. The study employed the use of secondary source of data. Findings from the study reveals that the usefulness of ICT in microfinance Banks is at a low percentage unlike the commercial Banks who have inhibited technology as part of their culture; bulk of the services which are rendered to their customers are for rural dwellers which makes the adoption of ICT near impossible. The study recommends that , microfinance Banks should as a matter of need use modern ICT applications in their operations as this will increase their performance in terms of reducing cost of operations, minimizing of error, increased competitive advantage which will in turn increase productivity and overall performance of microfinance Banks.