Yohannes, Workaferahu (PhD)Andargachew, Beyene2019-10-282023-11-192019-10-282023-11-192019-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/19650In a growing number of countries, banks are finding new ways to deliver financial services in a better way. Rather than using bank branches and bank employees, banks are offering various services through retail outlets. The agency banking business model was aimed at broadening financial inclusion to the majority of the unbanked people with low cost and better access. Even though the agent banking has been introduced in Ethiopia a couple years ago, its success factors have not been studied in depth as the industry is still young. The objective of the study is to investigate the factors determining the performance of agent banking business in Ethiopia. This study adopted descriptive research in design. The population for this study was all agents of United Bank S.C. operating both in Addis Ababa and rural areas of Ethiopia and 196 agents were selected as a sample. Convenience sampling method and structured questionnaires were used to select the sample and collect data, respectively. The study used quantitative research method and inferential statistical techniques were used to analyze the data. The results of correlation analysis revealed that positive and significant relationship was found between agent experience & knowledge, network & technological capability, agent commitment, brand of the represented bank, and reward and performance of agents. Whereas, fraud & cost of delivering financial services had negative and insignificant relation with performance of agent. The multiple linear regression analysis revealed that agent experience & knowledge, network & technological capability, brand of the represented bank and reward had significant effect on performance of agents, while fraud, agent commitment, and cost of delivering financial services had insignificant effect. The study concluded that brand of the represented bank, reward, agent experience & knowledge, and network & technological capability were the major factors affecting performance of bank agents. The study recommended that brand of the represented bank, reward, agent experience & knowledge, and network & technological capability should be given more attention by the bank and its agents to improve agent banking performance and fully utilize the sector’s potential. Further the study recommended that banks and agents should also give emphasis for agent banking business model considering the success of many countries in the world and the untapped market potential of Ethiopia.en-USAgentsFinancial InclusionRewardTechnological capabilitiesThesis