Purpose: Digital or online banking in Africa and Asia has become not only a channel, but a crucial service of the industry for the past decade. The quality of online banking service is, therefore, an important aspect that might reflect the total service of a bank. The study aims to investigate whether there are differences in eight service quality dimensions between three countries, South Africa, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The countries were selected since they represent a unique perspective of emerging regions that have fast adoption of digital channels but are rarely investigated. Research design, data and methodology: A quantitative method was employed to determine customers’ perception of online banking in the three countries among a total sample of 460 respondents. The study measured eight dimensions, namely: efficiency, fulfilment, system, privacy, assurance and trust, site aesthetic, responsiveness, and contact. Results: The study found that South Africa scored the highest average score in all dimensions, while Indonesia and Vietnam each had differences in some of the dimensions. The results contribute a comparative perspective of two regions, as well as managerial implications for each country. South Africa has the highest positive perception from customers in most of the dimensions, while Indonesia and Vietnam is recommended to improve efficiency and developing trust. Despite the importance and growing attention on online banking, few studies have covered this topic by comparing Africa and Asia as the two regions with the fastest growth in online banking innovation. Chigada and Hirschfelder (2017) point out that there is a lack of academic literature discussing mobile banking in amongst others South Africa. Carranza et al. (2021) also suggested that future online banking studies should capture wider geographical areas such as developing countries including Asia. This study indeed fills the gap and contributes to the literature (Arjun, Kuanr and Suprabha, 2021) by shedding light on online banking in developing countries. Conclusions: From the research results, the authors propose several recommendations to enhance the online digital channel service of banking in the three countries.
