The Effect of Financial Innovation on the Financial Performance of Financial Institutions in Cameroon

Purpose: The study sought to investigate the effect of financial innovations on financial performance of depository financial institutions in Cameroon. The specif objectives of the study were to examine the effect of product, process and institutional innovation on the financial performance of financial institutions Methodology: The study adopted a cross sectional research design. Purposive and convenience sampling methods were used to select 210 respondents from 75 financial institutions in Cameroon. Primary data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Data collected was sorted, coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v22.0). Data collected was analysed descriptively with the use of mean and inferentially with the use of ordered logit regression model and Pearson correlation metrix to establish the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables and the results were presented in tables. Findings: The findings show that increased financial innovation through process and institutional innovation can increase financial performances. For the basic regression used to find banks' performance, the analysis indicates that process and product innovation, measured by the ATM, POS, mobile banking and credit card, significantly influences financial performance of financial institutions. Although there is no significant effect of institutional innovation on financial performance, there is still a positive effect. Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The study therefore recommended that further study can be carried out on the effect of financial innovation on performance of depository financial institutions using different methods. In addition, depository financial institutions should transform banking service by adapting to process innovation so as to increase access to financial services.