Agency banking refers to the practice of a third party, referred to as a retail banking agency project, offering financial services to clients on the bank’s behalf. Contracts for services including cash withdrawals, bill payments, transfers, account balance inquiries, and government money receipts are part of these programs. By charging the agents service fees, the bank reps make money.

Cash transfer finance has been developed over time for a variety of strategic purposes. Apps are frequently used for things like mobile banking, remote access to personal bank accounts, cash withdrawals, and paying utility bills. Banks require strategic partnerships with mobile phone providers like Safaricom, Airtel, Yu, or Orange to receive non-equity financing. Customers can pay online agents who work for banks to use Internet banking to get bank services from any location. Kepha (2010) cites Money Gram and Western Union as two instances of cash transmittal services that let users receive or send money to or from their accounts anywhere in the world in a short period. The researcher investigates cash transfer financing strategic alliances for value creation in agency banking initiatives to examine the services that enable electronic currency transfers.

The following objective of the study was achieved.

To establish the extent to which cash transfer financing strategic alliances influence value creation in agency banking projects in Kenya.

The study sought to test the following research hypothesis:

Ho: There is no significant relationship between cash transfer financing strategic alliances and value creation in agency banking projects in Kenya.

The financial intermediation theory of banking underpins cash transfer financing strategic alliances on value creation for agency banking projects. It is the theory selected for this investigation. Within the confines of crucial limiting assumptions, this theory was developed to explain, forecast, and comprehend phenomena as well as to challenge and extend current knowledge. Werner (2016) cites Von Mises (1912) as the original proponent of the financial intermediation theory of banking in the International Review of Financial Analysis Vol. 46.

The goal of the model is to choose the location of cash management centres, the number and routes, and the policies of cash inventory management to minimize the amount of cash that is lent to deficit units, that attracts or incorporates strategic, tactical, and operational decisions for a bank’s cash transfer management system.

This study is guided by the following conceptual framework.

The Conceptual Model presents the conceived as formulated for testing. The conceptual model shows the various relationships among the variables in the

cash transfer financing strategic alliances and value creation in agency banking projects. According to the model (see Figure 1), value creation in agency banking projects is the dependent variable. Variable is presented by cash transfer financing strategic alliances and the indicators.

According to Mwamuhye and Ragui (2021) , studies on value creation share the viewpoint, that capital efficiency entails understanding the output about the amount of capital input necessary to maintain the operation. Once a little profit is realized as a result of this forward trend, accounting for capital efficiency can still help follow the profits as they gradually rise.

Sautma, Julio and Soehono (2020) explain the impact of economic value added and profitability on generated shareholder value in enterprises. The results of the investigation showed that shareholder value is significantly influenced by profitability. A Regression data analysis with a 162-person target population was used by Hornuf, Klus, Lohwasser and Schwienbacher (2019) . His findings demonstrate how coalitions are now crucial building blocks for a company’s development of a competitive edge. According to Wood (2009) explains how financial value creation is quantified in terms of money using words like return on investment (ROI), which is the calculation of profit margins and investment proceeds (Amici, Fiordelisi, Masala, Rizi, & Sist, 2013) .

According to Jongwe, Moroz, Gordon and Anderson (2020) , there have only been a small number of scholars studying value creation in retail banking. Many companies are forming unions and partnerships with other supply chain network participants to strengthen or add value to their clients’ non-equity strategic networks. Ogolla (2013) notes in a case study that Motor Companies are conscious of the importance of forging close relationships with its service providers, to achieve supplier satisfaction via subcontracting with them to help raise quality, save costs, and quickly expand new product lines (Nyaribo, Ogoro, & Osiemo, 2017; Seurey, 2015) .

Economic value added, according to Wairugi (2017) , is an estimation of the economic profit made by a company after taxes divided by the total cost of all of its sources of capital (Rofig & Santoso, 2020) . As a result, more experts are looking at what makes an alliance successful and developing different methods to gauge how much value the firms are creating (Kimani, 2014; Li, 2019; Khan, Lin, & Ma, 2021) .

A challenge in researching alliance value creation is how difficult it is to measure value creation objectively given the diverse aims of different entities. Additionally, it is challenging to the researcher to collect the data necessary to evaluate value creation through an acceptable method due to logistical difficulties (Khan et al., 2021; Klus et al., 2018; Zikri, 2020) .

Cash transfer financing strategic alliance is a process of describing banking services that permits transaction of electronic money via electronic gadgets like mobile phones, also called mobile money facility, mobile pouch-wallet, or mobile remittance (Ogega, 2010) . According to this research study, cash transfer financing strategic alliance is described as the process which involves various monetary transactions accomplished through mobile gadgets like cell phones in agency banking projects Mobile banking involves the engagement of a cell phone to check for bank details from a remote location, basically to check for account balances and to make bill payments, transfer of money, through using a mobile gadget to post cash also called Mobile commerce.

Writing on globalization strategies and financial performance of equity bank strategic alliances in the case of Kenya, Kolnyin (2018) , found that recent improvements in handset functionality had improved the performance of cell phone solutions. The data was gathered using an interview guide and analysed using a content analysis technique. According to USAID, employees in remote locations, payments in remote locations are still only made in cash by USAID and the global international development community.

In his article, on “Internet Banking: Benefits and Challenges in an Emerging Economy,” Kulshrestha and Dave (2016) researcher provides a quick overview of how technology in the banking industry has transformed the global banking landscape. On the benefits and drawbacks of online banking services, Nedumaran and Kaleeswaran (2017) Asserts that in India’s banking industry, online banking services were growing daily. Data for this study was gathered from primary and secondary sources, including website visitors, banking customers, and other sources. It was determined that good regulation allowed users to use online banking services at their convenience, around the clock.

When describing a Visa Card Review, Catalano (2021) pointed out that Visa credit cards offer ease and security to cardholders and may be used at shops and automated teller machines (ATMs) all over the world, bringing with it a host of incentives, such as cash-back rewards and exclusive benefits for using a certain retailer.

Nanwani (2015) reports as part of this commitment and the more comprehensive reforms known as USAID Forward, USAID is requesting that Missions create initiatives to aid in the growth of mobile money ecosystems in their particular countries. In his descriptive study on digitizing wage payments in Bangladesh’s garment production sector, Zahidullah (2017) found that switching from cash to electronic payments of wages can save time, cut costs, increase and give employees more financial power. Therefore, electronic transactions can benefit employees’ lives and assist businesses in addressing their main problems (Swinkels, 2017) .

Using data from 43 evaluations and reports on humanitarian programs published since 2006, Gros and Bailey (2017) examined how strategically using cash transfers affects food consumption in humanitarian selling. The study was conducted for the Canadian Food Grain Bank. Excellent access to mobile devices that are also very reasonably priced represents a significant opportunity to provide effective services to those without bank accounts or who are underbanked.

According to Dinapoli (2021) , the GSMA and Western Union’s cooperative mobile money transfer program enabled the appropriation of mobile transfer applications. According to estimates, 40 out of 100 mobile users in the nation are participating in the initiative for a strong customer base. Offering mobile cash services has three benefits: reaching an untapped market, increasing wallet share, and delivering cost savings.

Fall, Orozco, & Akim (2020) commented that lower-paid workers are likely going to use mobile cash services because major financial institutions are not providing them with satisfactory service. Given that they provide a decent and economical service for customers with little consumption, prepaid recharges and top-ups are significant revenue generators for a sizable number of carriers. The reloading process for prepaid cards is currently caused by current frameworks. This study investigates cash transfer strategic alliances and value creation in agency banking projects.

There was need to ascertain the distribution of respondents based on specific background and demographic factors. This would ensure adequate representation of views of various stakeholders in the study project. As such, demographic information was captured and analyzed that included; distribution of respondents by demographic characteristics, role of respondents in the project, duration worked in the participating organization, level of academic qualification, age and gender of the respondents. The results are presented in Table 1.

In Table 1, it is shown that, in terms of participating organizations, participants were equitably distributed across the 4 organizations with KCB 67 (37.2%), Equity 39 (21.6%), Cooperative bank 36 (20%) and ABSA 38 (21.1%) were almost equally represented. Thus, it was possible to obtain representative views from the participating organization to enable drawing of conclusions similarly the study found that the agency employees 160 (88.8%), Supervisors 20 (11.2%) were adequately represented in the study. Thus, information obtained was representative of stakeholders in the agency banking projects allowing reliable deductions and generalization on the study variables. In terms of duration worked in their respective organizations, the results depict hat although most of the respondents 68 (37.7%) reporting having been serving at those particular establishments for only between 1 and 2 years, a cumulative majority 118 (65.4%) had worked for at least 4 years in these organizations. Specifically, 50 (27.7%) had been in their organization for between 3 and 4 years, 30 (16.6%) for between 5 and 6 years, 20 (11.1%) for between 7 and 8 years while 12 (6.6%) had worked

Source: Researcher own source.

for more than 9 years. The results show participants were able to understand their operations that would give reliable information for the study.

On academic qualification, the study respondents had adequate academic qualification to be able to take part in the implementation of the agency banking project. A large proportion of study participants 68 (37.7%) were literates with diplomas with another 92 (51.11%) with at least a certificate, and 4 (2.2%) had Masters Degrees. Therefore, execution of agency banking services is expected to be successful given the educational background of the respondents.

There were 180 responses (n = 180), according to the response return rate. Since n > 30 and the population sample distribution were both normal, it permitted parametric analysis. The research’s data were put through a correlation analysis to see if they had a normal distribution. There was no need to worry about linearity because the residuals are normally distributed and homoscedastic, making it possible to apply statistical techniques like correlation, regression, t-tests, and ANOVA.

The variable of focus in this investigation was value creation in agency banking projects. The dependent variable was measured using a 10-item using the 5 - point Likert scale. On measures of Likert scale of 1 - 5 responses were scored and the corresponding frequency with their representative percentage determined Mean for each item was computed with the standard deviations also determined. Results were presented in Table 2.

On Table 2 regarding claim 1, which was made by 180 study participants, the item mean (Mean = 2.96) being less than the composite mean (Mean = 3.358) suggests that the line item does not affect value creation in agency banking projects. This is contrary to the respondents’ differing opinions, as shown by the item SD = 1.33, which was higher than the composite SD = 0.366.

Statement 2 demonstrated that among the 180 participants, the average score (Mean = 3.48) was higher than the average score for agency banking projects (Mean = 3.338), demonstrating an increase in capital efficiency with a line-item standard deviation (SD) of 1.37 compared to a composite SD of 0.36 show that the respondents had different points of view.

According to the line-item mean (Mean = 3.65) for statement 3 out of 180 respondents, which was higher than the composite mean (Mean = 3.338), the project produced value for agency banking programs. According to Almumani (2014) , who defines the factor determining share value creation as the current cost of all future benefits owed to asset owners, line-item SD = 1.34 being greater than the composite SD = 0.366 suggested that there was a difference in opinion among respondents. These findings are consistent with Kolnyin (2018) explanation. To support this, Almumani (2014) examines capital efficiency, profitability

Source: Researchers own source.

and growth in share capital.

The results for statement 4 indicated that the line item influences the value generation of agency banking initiatives when the line item mean (Mean = 3.6) is greater than the composite mean (3.358). Given that the composite SD 0.366 is bigger than the line-item SD of 1.41 suggested that there was a difference in opinion among respondents.

Results for statement 5 indicated that the agency banking project created a large amount of value, with a line-item mean (Mean = 3.52) line-item SD = 1.32 indicates greater than the composite mean (Mean = 3.35) Divergent opinions among respondents over composite SD = 0.366. It is consistent with the findings of Mwamuhye and Ragui (2021) , who discovered that a growth in share value results in a future benefit from shares.

Regarding statement 6, the scenario of value creation for the project was accomplished as the profit margin improved among the 180 participants, as evidenced by the significant difference between the composite mean’s (Mean = 3.358) and the line-item mean’s (Mean = 3.561) means. Divergent opinions were also evident in the line SD, which was 1.353 larger than the composite SD. also showed divergent opinion among respondents. This finding is in line with Sinnadurai, Subramaniam and Devi (2021) theory that the realization of such income and anticipated profits occurs through dividend pay-outs and additions in share value.

Regarding item number 7, findings indicated that agency banking initiatives created a lot of value, with line-item means (Mean = 3.644) higher than composite means (Mean = 3.33). The line-item SD of 1.34 was higher than the composite SD of 0.366, indicating that respondents’ opinions varied. Regarding claim 8, the findings demonstrated that agency banking projects created high levels of value, with a line-item mean (Mean = 3.66) that was higher than the composite mean (Mean = 3.33). However, the fact that the line SD was 1.34 greater than the composite mean SD of 0.366 indicates that there were different participant perspectives.

Regarding assertion 9, the composite mean (Mean = 3.358) was lower (Mean = 2.544). For projects involving agency banking, line item has no bearing on value creation. The line-item SD, nevertheless, with respect to statement number 10, The item mean of the statement that death benefits increased due to cash value addition had (Mean = 3.05), was less than the composite mean for value creation for agency banking projects (Mean = 3.358), This implies that the line item does not influence value creation agency banking projects. The line SD of 1.33 being greater than the composite SD of 0.366 indicates divergent opinion among the participants.

Research objective established the influence of cash transfer financing strategic alliances and value creation for agency banking projects and consequently data to measure cash transfer financing strategic alliances was obtained and modeled to ascertain the association using regression and correlation statistical analysis.

Cash Transfer Financing strategic alliances was evaluated basing on a 5-item five level scale 1 - 5 namely: 1 = SD (Strongly disagree) 2 = D (Disagree), 3 = N (Neutral), 4 = A (Agree) and 5 = SA (Strongly agree). Thus, the emerging data was summarized and aggregated in terms of response frequency and corresponding percentage with reference to each item. Further, for each item, the mean value and deviations about the mean (SD) were determined. Results are presented in Table 3 .

In accordance with Table 3, result 1, the line item mean (Mean = 4.211), which is higher than the composite mean (Mean = 3.45), demonstrates that online banking cash transfers allowed users to access bank accounts online. There were different points of view among the participants, as indicated by the greater line SD of 1.169 than composite SD of 0.379.

Source: Researchers own source.

Kulshrestha and Dave (2016) , who outlines how technology in the banking industry has changed the financial environment around value, supports the viewpoint. As seen by the item line mean (Mean = 3.455), which is greater than the composite mean (Mean = 3.45), and the larger line SD of the statement 2 data, Visa cards allowed agent banks to access an enhanced market share of the project. This view was also shared by Managers who participated in the study, in this case one of the managers said that:

“If you lose your card, Visa can stop your account, send you a replacement card, and give you some cash Visa cards offer special discounts, versatile possibilities, interest-free periods, and secure transactions”.

[Interview: Manager 2, 2 November 2021].

According to the item line mean (Mean = 3.333), which is lower than the composite mean (Mean = 3.45), the results for statement 3 demonstrated that electronic currency transfers had no discernible impact on the value generation of agency banking projects. The larger line SD of 1.89 over the composite SD of 0.378 denotes participant disagreement.

As seen by the item line mean (Mean = 3.488), which is higher than the composite mean (Mean = 3.45), results for statement 4 demonstrated that consumers’ ability to access funds in the bank increased the total value generation for agency banking programs. There may have been different points of view among some of the participants as indicated by the line-item mean SD = 1.206 being larger than the composite mean SD = 0.379.

Results for assertion 5 are shown by the item line mean (Mean = 3.527). Higher above the composite mean (Mean = 3.45), which suggests that customers’ use of mobile phones to send money considerably increased value creation The fact that the line-item mean SD = 1.435 was greater than the composite mean SD = 0.379 suggests that some of the participants held non-divergent opinions. “Mobile money service allows users to store, send, and receive money using mobile phones, and they can purchase items in stores or online, pay bills, or pay school fees,” one of the managers who was interviewed said. [Manager 1 interview: October 15, 2021]

Results for statement 6 revealed that: Given that the composite mean for value creation for the agency banking initiative (Mean = 3.45) was lower than the item mean of the assertion that clients might receive money via mobile cash transfers (Mean = 3.844), Participants in the study were sufficiently satisfied that customers could receive money through mobile cash transfers. However, the fact that the line-item mean SD = 1.229 was more than the composite mean SD = 0.379 suggests that individuals held varying opinions. According to the findings for statement 7, the line item mean (Mean = 3.022) was less than the composite mean (Mean = 3.45). The project participants were not sufficiently satisfied with the gain in market share that Visa cards provided for agent banking projects. This suggests that the value creation in agency banking projects is unaffected by Visa cards. However, the line-item mean SD = 1.329 higher than composite mean SD = 0.379 implies that there was divergent views among some of the participants.

According to the findings for statement 8, the line item mean (Mean = 3.56) was higher than the composite mean for value generation for projects including agency banking (Mean = 3.45). Participants in the project overwhelmingly agreed that online banking cash transfers gave agent banks access to more market share. Line item mean SD = 1.286 greater than composite mean SD = 0.379 suggests that some individuals had different points of view. According to managers surveyed,

“The global online banking market size was estimated to be about $11.43 billion in 2019 and was expected to reach $31.81 billion by 2017 with a CAGR of 13.6%”. {Manager 2 interview, November 2021}.

According to the findings for statement 9, the growth in share prices for agency banks that were able to accept electronic cash transfers (Mean = 2.988) was lower than the project’s composite mean (Mean = 3.450). This suggested that study participants were sufficiently convinced that agency banks were unable to forecast increases in share values due to electronic cash transfers. This has a detrimental effect on the agency banking initiatives’ ability to create value. The fact that the line-item mean SD = 1.2029 is greater than the composite mean SD = 0.379 suggests that some participants held different opinions.

According to data from the statement 10, the line-item mean (Mean = 3.19) was lower than the composite mean for value creation in agency banking initiatives (Mean = 3.45). Participants in the project disagreed that using mobile phones helped agency bank projects generate capital efficiency. There may have been different points of view among some of the participants, as indicated by the line-item mean SD = 1.27 being greater than the composite mean SD = 0.379. According to one of the managers who were interviewed, “improving Internet banking and liquidity among commercial agency banking, projects improve their efficiency [Interview: Manager 4, 21 December 2021].”

To determine the relationship between cash transfer financing strategic alliances and value creation in agent Banking projects, the Pearson correlation coefficient was used. Table 4 shows the correlational results.

Output Table 4 depicts a moderate correlation R = 0.42031 the two variables which were statistically significant at (P-value = 0.05) indicating that there is a significant relationship between cash transfer financing strategic alliances and value creation in agency banking projects, leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis Ho: therefore the research finding concluded that there was a significant relationship between strategic cash transfer financing and value creation in agency banking projects.

Source: Own source 2018. **Values are significant at 0.01 levels (2-tailed).

To determine how cash transfer financing strategic alliances influence value creation for agency banking projects the two variables were modelled through regression. Results were analysed and presented in Table 5.

The Model summary sought to establish how cash transfer financing strategic alliances significantly or significantly predicted value creation in agency banking projects The According to the model summary in Table 5, there was a positive association, R = 0.4203, between value creation in agency banking projects and cash transfer funding strategic alliances. Additionally, strategic cash transfer financing explained 17.89% of the difference in value creation in agency and banking projects.

According to the ANOVA results in Table 5, the F-statistics (1, 179) = 10.13 is significant at a P-Value of 0.0025 ≤ 0.05, indicating that the predictor coefficient is at least not equal to zero. As a result, the regression model produces a significantly better prediction of value creation in agency banking projects following the use of strategic cash transfer financing strategic alliances.

Source: Own source 2018. a. Dependent Variable: Value creation in agency banking project. b. Predictors: (Constant), Strategic cash transfer financing.

Regression coefficient was used to determine whether cash transfer funding strategic alliances had an impact on value creation in agency banking projects. In Table 5, the findings indicate that there may have been a relationship between cash transfer financing strategic relationships and value development. Both the cash transfer financing (B1 = 0.4203; P = 0.05) and the coefficient of the constant term (Bo = 20.86, P = 0.05) were statistically significant.

The value generation in agency banking projects was minimally altered by 0.4203 units for every unit of cash transfer financing according to the regression model for strategic cash transfer financing, Y = 20.86 + 0.4203X. Therefore, it can be said that agency banking initiatives and cash transfer financing strategic alliances were favorably and linearly associated.

The Project Managers in agency banking projects should come together at the initial stages to ensure that the project contract scope is defined and approved to facilitate compliance and speedy execution of the overall project. Similarly, the dispute resolution channel should be clearly defined to address emerging disputes between the stakeholders to avoid protracted court cases which delay project execution timelines.

1) Integrate as many banks as is possible so that it becomes convenient to transfer money from person to person.

2) Educate bankcustomers on the security advantages of digital payments.