Banking around the world and in India has evolved over the years and with the advancement of technology, it has also become far more easier to carry out transactions such as opening an account, depositing and transferring funds among many other things. Today, one can do all sorts of banking transactions from a smartphone. There are even chatbots who can help you out or one can have a dedicated relationship manager. Much of this change is supposedly keeping the customer at the centre. But, perceptions can be far different from reality.
A study by Kantar, a global data, insights and consulting firm, shows that while 91 per cent of retail banks chief executives in India see the need to be customer centric, only 29 per cent of customers believe banks truly offer customer centric experiences.
“Most CEOs believe customer centricity is essential for driving business growth. However, there is still a big gap between ambition and reality,” the study says.
Interestingly, the international banks are perceived to be nearly twice as more customer centric than their Indian competitors. HSBC, Standard Chartered and Citi topped the Kantar list of top ten retail banks in India, based on customer experience. Top Indian private banks such as ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were at sixth, seventh eighth and tenth position.
“Foreign banks are smaller, they have a very specific niche target group. That allows them to communicate a clear brand promise and then deliver. The challenge that private Indian banks and public sector banks face is the large and diverse customer base. What ends up happening is because we are not crafting our promise keeping in mind the diverse customer base, we are diffusing the expectations a customer should have from us. So, when they start interacting and what they think the experience will be, there is a gap. The larger banks seem to have that a lot more than the niche banks,” said Soumya Mohanty, chief clients offier, insights division at Kantar.
A key finding of the study was that 47 per cent of the customers expected the banks to use the data and information about them, but to provide a personalised experience. Also, over half (55 per cent) want their banks to go beyond just products. However, not all the banks are harnessing the data as efficiently as they could.
“The biggest highlight is that Indian customer is still OK sharing the data to get personalised services, to get recommendations they don’t have the kind of privacy fears that the rest of the world has. Are banks using AI (artificial intelligence) to craft better, more personalised services? Using data in the right way to inform your strategy, that’s what banks should look at,” said Mohanty
The use of digital is also on the rise with 80 per cent transactions now made via digital channels and 64 per cent customers engaging with banks via mobiles. However, 60 per cent of the customers still rely on relationship managers in their local branch, suggesting that while Indians seek digital service for their convenience, they still prefer human guidance for more complex queries. Further more, Indian customers want the power to choose between digital and physical streams and want both parts to be more seamless than they are right now.
“Banks are probably not very clear what their promise is. So, when they are doing digital, they are not going whole hog to create a seamless digital environment. They are doing bits and pieces. So, promise what the customer expects, may not be realised, especially for the larger banks,” she added.
The study also pointed that there is massive opportunity for banks to connect with women.
“Proportion of Indian women having a personal income has risen significantly in the last three years. Indian women having a personal income of Rs 30,000 and above has risen by 21 per cent since 2015. However, about 114 million Indian women are unbanked,” the report highlighted.
