Consent Form

Informed Consent Form for Banking Professionals involve in decision making and policy
implementation /IT professional involve in providing digital tools and services in banking industry to
participate in research titled “Exploring the Barriers to Complete Digitalization in Banking Sector of
Pakistan: A Qualitative Study on the Implications for Sustainable Development Goal 9”.

This Informed Consent Form has two parts:

Part I: Information Sheet

Introduction
I am Sumbol Fiaz, PhD Scholar at Institute of Business Management. I am doing research on the Partial
digitalization issue in Banking sector of Pakistan which is recently highlighted by Pakistan Baking Association
and KPMG. I am going to give you information and invite you to be part of this research. You do not have to
decide today whether or not you will participate in the research. Before you decide, you can talk to anyone you
feel comfortable with about the research.
This consent form may contain words that you do not understand. Please ask me to stop as we go through the
information and I will take time to explain. If you have questions later, you can ask them of me or of another
researcher.
Purpose of the research
Partial digitalization in industry is hindering the firm’s performance and causing operational inefficiencies,
high operational cost and data siloes. Through this research we want to find out the present challenges halting
the complete adoption of digitalization and possible solutions. We believe that you can help us by telling us
what you know both about digitalization challenges and about banking practices in general. We want to learn
why banking sector is in partial digitalization state, what are the hurdle executives and managers facing in
completely digitalization of banking operations. We want to learn about what measures have been taken so far
and what strategies have been planned to overcome this partial digitalization issue. Further we also want to
know about the participation of banking sector towards the attainment of sustainable development goal.
This research will involve your participation in interview that will take about one hour.

You are being invited to take part in this research because we feel that your experience as a top-level banking
professional can contribute much to our understanding and knowledge of banking practices.
The choice that you make will have no bearing on your job or on any work-related evaluations or reports. You
may change your mind later and stop participating even if you agreed earlier.
participate in an interview myself. During the interview, I will sit down with you in a comfortable place. If it is
better for you, the interview can take place in your workplace. If you do not wish to answer any of the
questions during the interview, you may say so and the interviewer will move on to the next question.
No one else but the interviewer will be present unless you would like someone else to be there. The
information recorded is confidential, and no one else except Supervisor and reviewer of this study will access
to the information documented during your interview. The entire interview will be audio-recorded, but no-one
will be identified by name on the audio file. The recorded interview will be kept password protected file. The
information recorded is confidential, and no one else except Supervisor and reviewer of this study will have
access to the file. The recording will be destroyed after completion of this research.
The research takes place over 10 months in total. During that time, I will visit you once for interviewing. You
will be contacted again if we need clarification over something related to your interview.
There is a risk that you may share some personal or confidential information by chance, or that you may feel
uncomfortable talking about some of the topics. However, we do not wish for this to happen. You do not have
to answer any question or take part in the interview if you feel the question(s) are too personal or if talking
about them makes you uncomfortable.

There will be no direct benefit to you, but your participation is likely to help us find about challenges of partial
digitalization in banking industry.
We will not be sharing information about you to anyone outside of the research team. The information that we
collect from this research project will be kept private. Any information about you will have a number on it
instead of your name. Only the researchers will know what your number is and we will lock that information
up with a lock and key. It will not be shared with or given to anyone except research team.

Nothing that you tell us today will be shared with anybody outside the research team, and nothing will be
attributed to you by name. The knowledge that we get from this research will be shared with you before it is
made widely available to the public. Result will be published so that other interested people may learn from
the research.

You do not have to take part in this research if you do not wish to do so, and choosing to participate will not
affect your job or job-related evaluations in any way. You may stop participating in the interview at any time
that you wish without your job being affected. I will give you an opportunity at the end of the interview to
review your remarks, and you can ask to modify or remove portions of those, if you do not agree with my
notes or if I did not understand you correctly.
If you have any questions, you can ask them now or later. If you wish to ask questions later, you may contact
via phone call.
Part II: Certificate of Consent
1. I……………………………………… voluntarily agree to participate in this research study.
2. I understand that even if I agree to participate now, I can withdraw at any time or refuse to answer
any question without any consequences of any kind.
3. I understand that I can withdraw permission to use data from my interview within two weeks
after the interview, in which case the material will be deleted.
4. I have had the purpose and nature of the study explained to me in writing and I have had the
opportunity to ask questions about the study.
5. I understand that I will not benefit directly from participating in this research.
6. I agree to my interview being audio-recorded.
7. I understand that all information I provide for this study will be treated confidentially.
8. I understand that in any report on the results of this research my identity will remain anonymous.
This will be done by changing my name and disguising any details of my interview which may
reveal my identity or the identity of people I speak about.
9. I understand that disguised extracts from my interview may be quoted in dissertation, conference
presentation and published papers.
10. I understand that if I inform the researcher that myself or someone else is at risk of harm, they
may have to report this to the relevant authorities - they will discuss this with me first but may be
required to report with or without my permission.
11. I understand that signed consent forms and original audio recordings will be retained in password
protected file until the exam board confirms the results of dissertation.
12. I understand that a transcript of my interview in which all identifying information has been
removed will be retained for two years from the date of the exam board.
13. I understand that under freedom of information legalization I am entitled to access the
information I have provided at any time while it is in storage as specified above.
14. I understand that I am free to contact any of the people involved in the research to seek further
clarification and information.

___________________________ ____________
Participant signature Date
I believe the participant is giving informed consent to participate in this study

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Signature of researcher Date