Evaluation of Digital Banking Implementation Indicators and Models in the Context of Industry 4.0: A Fuzzy Group MCDM Approach

Modern technologies have changed human life and created a generation of customers who have different needs compared to the past. Considering Industry 4.0 and its drivers, the implementation of digital banking (DB) has faced various challenges that are caused by emerging trends. Both Industry 4.0 and DB are contemporary concepts, and decision-makers are often faced with uncertainties in their decisions regarding the implementation of DB and its indicators. For this purpose, a novel multi-criteria group decision-making approach has been developed utilizing the best–worst method (BWM) and α-cut analysis as well as trapezoidal fuzzy numbers (TFNs). By reviewing the literature and using experts’ opinions, the DB implementation criteria are determined, and considering an uncertain environment, the criteria are prioritized using the proposed method. Then, the available DB models and alternatives are examined based on the decision criteria and the importance of each criterion. This research contributes to the existing literature by identifying and prioritizing the criteria necessary for the successful implementation of DB, taking into account emerging trends and technological advances driven by Industry 4.0. Subsequently, the study prioritizes the prevalent models of DB based on these criteria. This study proposes a decision-support framework for dealing with ambiguity, lack of information, insufficient knowledge, and uncertainty in decision-making. The framework uses TFNs to account for imprecision and doubt in decision-makers’ preferences. Additionally, the study presents a fuzzy multi-criteria group decision-making approach that enables a group of experts to arrive at more reliable results. The proposed approach can help improve the quality of decision-making in complex and uncertain situations. The results of this research show that human resources, rules and regulations, and customer satisfaction are the most important criteria for implementing DB. In addition, the open, blockchain, and social banking models are the crucial models that significantly cover the implementation criteria for DB.