Assessing the Impact of Trust and Security on Digital Payment Preference among Digital Payment Users in Muscat, Oman

Abstract

This study examines the influence of perceived trust and perceived security on digital payment preference among users in Muscat, Oman. As digital payment systems become increasingly integrated into daily financial activities, understanding the factors that influence user preference has become important for financial institutions, policymakers, and payment service providers. The study adopted a quantitative research design and collected data from 128 digital payment users through a structured questionnaire. Perceived trust and perceived security were treated as independent variables, while preferred digital payment method was treated as the dependent variable. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were conducted using MS Excel and PSPP software. The findings revealed that neither perceived trust nor perceived security had a statistically significant influence on users’ preferred digital payment method. Trust explained only 1.1% of the variation in payment preference, while security explained only 0.1%. These results suggest that trust and security may be viewed by respondents as basic expectations rather than direct factors influencing payment preference. However, due to the small sample size, gender imbalance, and exploratory statistical approach, the findings should be interpreted with caution. The study recommends that future research should examine additional factors such as convenience, transaction speed, ease of use, promotional benefits, merchant acceptance, and service reliability to better understand digital payment preference in Oman.