The Effect of Information Systems on Bank Performance: A comparative study between Islamic and Commercial Banks in Jordan

This study aims to explore and analyze the most important reasons for decision making within the banking sector of Jordan, which, although extremely important, is largely absent in business literature pertaining to Jordan. Essentially, the researcher poses two central questions: Does implementation of Information Systems (IS) impact on business performance, and is there any difference in this impact between the two main groups of banks in Jordan; Islamic and Commercial? Two further questions are also investigated; the extent to which banks are applying IS, and whether there are differences in business performance due to individual bank characteristics, such as extent of capital reserves, the number of years it has been operating and the type of bank. Quantitative methodology has been used to collect and analyze data, which is comprised of 583 questionnaires. Various forms of analysis were employed to examine the research assumptions; independent and one-sample t-test, multiple regression analysis and ANOVA. The study proposes the following conclusions: • IS is applied by banks in Jordan; however, there is variation in application of equipment and software, with Commercial Banks exhibiting positive implementation and Islamic Banks negative implementation. • The only significant positive effect of IS was on marketing performance. • The relationship does not differ when a comparison between two samples is progressed. • Economic performance of a bank is related to the sector (Commercial or Islamic) to which it belongs.