dc.description.abstract | Modern banking is conducted within an environment of multiple electronic channels to meet the
various needs of customers. These banking channels include Automated Teller Machines
(ATMs), Point of Sale (POS) devices, Internet banking, and Mobile banking among others and
banks are keen to monitor the performance of these channels. However, conventional techniques
such as database queries, application monitoring, network links monitoring, data mining, and
rule-based technologies used in monitoring the performance of electronic channels are mainly
manual or semi-automated and lack an integrated intelligent model for this task. The literature
that was reviewed did not show the application of multi-agent systems technology in monitoring
the performance of banking electronic channels although this technology has been shown to be
successful in several areas of systems performance monitoring.
This study therefore set out to research on the use of a multi-agent system based approach to
performance monitoring for banking electronic channels. The model used simulated data and it
was evaluated based on key functionalities in terms of the ability to generate simulated
transactions, monitoring channel activity and generate reports advising on e-channels
performance and its realism. Four evaluators tested this model and confirmed it had the
functionalities of a useful performance monitoring and reporting tool in banking and that it
addressed key inadequacies current techniques face. The research found out that multi-agent
system technology, through its use of intelligent and autonomous agents, could continuously
monitor and report performance of the different e-channels with limited or no human
intervention thus avoiding one of the main challenges conventional techniques face.
This study is significant to the academic community interested in artificial intelligence or the
specific area of using multi-agent systems in monitoring the performance of an electronic
system. The findings will also prove useful to software developers and company procurement
departments in identifying essential features of an intelligent performance monitoring and
reporting solution.
Keywords: Agent, Multi-Agent Technology, Multi-Agent System, Performance Monitoring,
Electronic Channels, E-Channels, ECPM, JADE, POS, ATM, Artificial Intelligence, E-Banking | en_US |