Asian Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting

This study examined the associations of agency banking and digital wallet technologies with the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nairobi County, Kenya. It was informed by the Technology Acceptance Model, the Resource-Based View and agency theory. The investigation employed a cross-sectional explanatory survey design and collected information from SME respondents using a structured questionnaire. The reported sample size was 200, and multiple regression analysis was used to assess the relationships between the two financial technologies and SME performance. Agency banking technology had a negative but statistically non-significant association with SME performance (B = −0.040, p = 0.461). In contrast, digital wallet technology showed a positive and statistically significant association with performance (B = 0.290, p < 0.001). The reported model explained 17.8% of the variation in SME performance scores (R² = 0.178), with an adjusted R² of 0.159. These findings indicate that the two financial-service channels were associated differently with enterprise performance within the study setting. Because the research was cross-sectional, the reported relationships should not be interpreted as causal effects. Banks and agent-network operators should monitor agent liquidity, service reliability, operating hours, transaction failures and complaint resolution. Decisions about expanding agency banking should be informed by local demand and service-quality evidence. Digital wallet technology may also be relevant to SMEs seeking to manage their transactions and financial processes more effectively.