NAIROBI, Kenya, March 1 – Majority of bank customers preferred human-aided customer services to chatbot services in 2022, reversing an automation trend that followed the outbreak of Covid-19, a new survey shows.
According to the Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey (2022), bank customers who preferred human-assisted customer service increased to 16 per cent from 12 per cent in 2021.
On the other hand, only 15 percent of bank clients preferred accessing bank services from self-service platforms such as chatbots and the Internet.
Even so, the preference for automated banking channels continued to grow, rising to 67 percent in 2022 from 58 percent in 2021.
The findings suggest that customers would rather interact with a bank representative when raising a complaint or seeking customer support than interact with a chatbot but prefer to transact without necessarily visiting a bank branch or involving bank staff.
Compared to 2021, customers who preferred visiting a bank branch to transact rose from 7 per cent to 17.6 percent in 2022.
The survey, which analyses over 33,000 responses, further shows a sustained multi-banking trend, with clients having two or more bank account accounting for 48.2 percent.
In addition, the proportion of Customers with Disabilities surveyed increased from 3.4 percent in 2021 to 13.8 percent in 2022. From the survey data, 93.5 percent said they were able to access banking services, with 6.5 percent of them reporting being unable to transact independently.
Speaking during the survey’s release, Kenya Bankers Association Chief Executive Officer Habil Olaka emphasized the need to institute measures meant to ensure independent access to financial services for Persons with Disabilities.
“Considering the privacy required while conducting banking services, the banking industry is putting strategies in place to ensure full independent access to banking service for Persons with Disabilities,’’ said Olaka, adding that over 30 banks are in the course of implementing a harmonized banking industry accessibility roadmap that seeks to address accessibility challenges.
The survey respondents ranked Cooperative Bank as the best overall bank in customer experience, followed by Family Bank and KCB Bank respectively.
In the Tier I category, Cooperative Bank maintained the top position, followed by KCB Bank and Standard Chartered Bank in position three.
Meanwhile, Family Bank emerged best in the Tier II category with National Bank and Prime Bank taking the second and third positions respectively. ABC Bank topped in the Tier III category while Sidian and Credit Bank took the second and third positions, respectively.
