Designing and Illustrating the Knowledge Network of Digital Banking Studies with a Bibliometric Approach

Purpose: In the age of information, the increasing competition among banks to gain a larger share of the monetary and financial market has led to a more detailed and profound focus on the needs and demands of customers. Achieving maximum customer satisfaction initially involves understanding their needs and demands and then translating these into appropriate services. Given the growing complexity of financial and banking systems, this can only be accomplished by establishing codified and systematic methods that transform these concepts into an organizational process. Furthermore, with the evolving needs, demands, and expectations of customers, it is essential to first identify what the customer desires and then provide the necessary means to fulfill them. The significant changes in the banking system and services, the competitive and rapidly changing environment in which banks operate, and the recognition that consistently delivering superior quality services compared to competitors can create a stronger competitive advantage have driven banks to shift their focus towards customer satisfaction and enhancing service quality. Consequently, due to the characteristics of digital environments, banks are compelled to transition into digital banks and bridge the gap between the physical and digital realms in a timely manner. The journey of banks towards customer-centricity should commence with the adoption of digital technologies and by establishing targeted partnerships and re-engineering the current processes and structure of banks within the digital banking ecosystem. The primary objective of the current research is to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the scientific publications in the Scopus scientific database on the subject of digital banking from its inception to date and to present the global scientific landscape (over the past 66 years). In scientometric research, it is crucial to emphasize the significance of quantitative and qualitative information about the topic being studied. Such studies unveil hidden realities in every scientific domain. Undoubtedly, remote research points may pose significant challenges in the future or reveal remarkable prospects for further research and narrowing research gaps.
Methodology: This research follows an analytical-applied approach, utilizing scientometric techniques such as synonym analysis and social network analysis. By examining the main results, the research field's topics and boundaries were meticulously gathered through records and citation links. Under a scientific framework, 3488 sources related to digital banking were extracted from the Scopus scientific database by searching the article title, abstract, and keywords. Data review and analysis were conducted using the database's tools, as well as Excel and VOSviewer software, a social network analysis tool. This was done to quantify, design, and visualize the research products' trends, knowledge map, colleagues' network, and the synonymy network of research on digital banking.
 
Findings: The findings of the research indicate the upward trend of scientific productions in the field of digital banking, especially since the year 2000, and it also indicates that; More than 97% of the indexed documents are in English and the rest are related to other languages of the world and have been retrieved and categorized in the form of 13 types of texts, the highest frequency of which is related to original research articles with 44.70% and countries such as the United States of America, England and India has the most published documents in this field compared to other countries in the world.
Conclusion: The findings of the research indicate an upward trend in scientific productions in the field of digital banking, especially since the year 2000. More than 97% of the indexed documents are in English, while the remaining are in various languages from around the world. These documents have been retrieved and categorized into 13 types of texts, with the highest frequency being original research articles at 44.70%. Countries such as the United States of America, England, and India have the most published documents in this field compared to other countries worldwide.
Conclusion: Investigations like this can provide a suitable path and roadmap for future research, investment, and policymaking by executive departments in the field of digital banking. The results of this research show that Iranian researchers have also entered this field and have scientific productions and collaborations with other countries in this area, but this issue should be further developed. Additionally, the co-occurrence results of the words show the frequency of terms such as "banking", "digital storage", "fintech", "digital technology", "blockchain", "e-commerce" and "authentication" and the most relevance to the term "digital banking. The results of co-authored works by countries reveal that India, America, England, the Russian Federation, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, and Spain have the most significant scientific cooperation in this field compared to other countries.