UAE Bank Benchmarking Study 2009
Ethos Consultancy has released the findings of its 5th Annual Service Quality Bank Benchmarking Study. This year shows a remarkable increase on last year’s study with the average customer satisfaction score increasing by almost 10%, the largest increase since the study commenced in 2005. RAKBank have retained the title as ‘Best Overall Bank’, narrowly edging out Dubai Bank who finished second overall and First Gulf Bank, who finished in third place.
BBS 2009 Winners
- RAKBank have successfully achieved Best Overall Bank for the 4th year running
- Lloyds TSB have successfully achieved Best International Bank for the 4th year running
- First Gulf Bank have successfully achieved Best Website Performance in both 2008 and 2009
Methodology Used
Each year this study is carried out by trained and experienced researchers who focus on real banking enquiry scenarios. Each researcher acts as a prospective customer and approaches a retail bank via one of three channels:
1. Via the bank's branch location
2. Via the bank’s call center
3. Via the bank’s website
These channels are then evaluated on two key differentiators that define customer experience at a bank, Response Time and Service quality. For a full break down by channel:
The process of customer engagement for any business begins when a prospective customer approaches a business to enquire about the services on offer. This study benchmarks the performance of 27 leading UAE retail banks side by side using a common scoring system.
2009 Customer Service Banking Trends
This year’s Bank Benchmarking Study shows a remarkable increase on last year’s study with the average customer satisfaction score increasing by almost 10%, the largest increase since the study commenced in 2005. Ethos Consultancy forecast 12 months ago that this would be the year that UAE retail banks’ customer service would come of age, and 2009’s Study shows that there has been a vast improvement on 2008.
Customer satisfaction with the UAE’s retail banking sector has improved significantly due to the Government’s commitment to improve service quality and a global recession forcing banks to make customer service a priority. In 2008 a booming UAE economy meant banks could afford to ignore service quality, they focused on customer acquisition. However, 2009’s recession has created a paradigmatic shift; salary reductions, unemployment and expats returning to their homeland meant that banks were forced to focus on customer retention. This is reflected in the 5 year trends below:
For more information about this year’s Bank Benchmarking Study or to place an order for the report please contact Our Sales Team
"Service excellence is a central part of RAKBANK’s culture and we consistently put great efforts into raising service standards, developing employee skills and streamlining processes to deliver the best service possible . It is very gratifying to be recognized by independent market studies as the best bank for service for the fourth consecutive year. ", Graham Honeybill, General Manager RAKBANK