Citation: Marhaeni, A.A.I.N.;
Jermsittiparsert, K.; Sudarmo;
Indrawati, L.R.; Prasetyo, A.; Fuada,
N.; Rachmadhani, A.; Raharjo, T.W.;
Wahyudianto, H.; Harwijayanti, B.P.;
et al. Adoption of the Green
Economy through Branchless Rural
Credit Banks during the COVID-19
Pandemic in Indonesia. Sustainability
2023, 15, 2723. https://doi.org/
10.3390/su15032723
Academic Editors: Massoud
Moslehpour, Dian Ekowati and
Ranfeng (Stella) Qiu
Received: 20 December 2022
Revised: 21 January 2023
Accepted: 30 January 2023
Published: 2 February 2023
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
sustainability
Article
Adoption of the Green Economy through Branchless Rural
Credit Banks during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia
A. A. I. N. Marhaeni
1,
*, Kittisak Jermsittiparsert
2
, Sudarmo
3
, Lucia Rita Indrawati
4
, Andjar Prasetyo
5
,
Noviati Fuada
6
, Arnis Rachmadhani
7
, Tri Weda Raharjo
8
, Heri Wahyudianto
9
, Bekti Putri Harwijayanti
10
,
Jonni Sitorus
11
, Mochammad Fahlevi
12,
* and Mohammed Aljuaid
13
1
Department of Economic Development, Universitas Udayana, Bali 80361, Indonesia
2
Faculty of Education, University of City Island, Famagusta 9945, Northern Cyprus, Cyprus
3
Management Department, Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Ekonomi Balikpapan, Balikpapan 76124, Indonesia
4
Faculty of Economics, Tidar University, Magelang 56116, Indonesia
5
Development Planning Agency of Magelang City, Magelang 56116, Indonesia
6
Organization for Health, National Research and Innovation Agency, Jakarta 12710, Indonesia
7
National Research and Innovation Agency, Jakarta 12710, Indonesia
8
Regional Research and Development Agency of East Java Province, Surabaya 60111, Indonesia
9
Regional Development Planning Agency of Papua Province, Jayapura 99225, Indonesia
10
Poltekkes Kemenkes Semarang, Semarang 50268, Indonesia
11
Regional Research and Development Agency of North Sumatra Province, Medan 20241, Indonesia
12
Management Department, BINUS Online Learning, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta 11480, Indonesia
13
Department of Health Administration, College of Business Administration, King Saud University,
Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
* Correspondence: marhaeni_agung@unud.ac.id (A.A.I.N.M.); mochammad.fahlevi@binus.ac.id (M.F.)
Abstract: A green economy has an impact on improving welfare, but it takes continuous efforts to
achieve it from various fields. Contribution in the context of banking on a small scale is one of the
initiatives that can show participation in achieving a green economy. This study aims to explore
people’s behavior in financial transactions and analyze the practice of rural credit banks in encourag-
ing the achievement of a green economy through the National Financial Inclusive Strategy (NFIS)
program despite the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used quantitative approaches; observations
were conducted at a certain time by collecting data taken directly as a complement to this study, as
well as taking questionnaire data involving 363 samples and analyzing them using the structural
equation model (SEM). The result is that green economic support is found in using paper for fewer
savings transactions compared to branchless banking with conventional savings transactions. The
high number of residents exposed to COVID-19 does not affect branchless banking. In addition,
the use of branchless banking can show the penetration of financial literacy in the community. The
results of the path analysis explain that perceived ease of use (7.468) and perceived usefulness (2.152)
have an influence on attitude; intention is greatly influenced by attitude (15.357); and actual usage is
influenced by intention (11.682). This research has specific implications for the Magelang City Rural
Bank (MCRB), which needs to conduct market research to find out the potential of branchless banking
that is specifically needed by the people of Magelang. Branchless banking innovation needs to be
strengthened by presenting easy-to-understand and easy-to-use applications to improve the attitude
of the Magelang people in adopting branchless banking applications and using them sustainably.
Keywords: behavior; urban residents; green economy; branchless; rural credit banks; COVID-19 pandemic
1. Introduction
Green economy agreements have an impact on improving people’s welfare and
society [1]; however, sustained efforts from various fields are required to achieve them. The
green economy is aimed at human behavior in order to manage life by paying attention
to environmental aspects as a necessary habit. The main reason for the emergence of the
Sustainability 2023, 15, 2723. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032723 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability