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A survey by KPMG has revealed that branch customer experience ranks highest at 47 per cent among the reasons customers select their preferred bank channel, while charges rank lowest at six per cent. This indicates that excellent customer experience is the dominant consideration for customers, surpassing even the cost of banking services, thus challenging banks to open more branches.

“This implies that customers’ sensitivity to charges and costs is low, and they rank customer experience over and above the cost it takes to access services via a given channel,” KPMG said.

Preferred option

In terms of channel preference, 42 per cent of the banked population use mobile apps as their preferred channel to interact with their bank. Bank branches rank second at 24 per cent, and the least preferred option is Internet banking at 4 per cent.

Banks in Kenya have shifted to digital platforms, bucking the trend of closing bank halls. The survey reveals why banks are opening brick-and-mortar branches across the country.

“Majority of the customers have interacted with the bank in the last month, with 33 per cent having interacted with the bank less than a week before the survey. This underscores how critical bank services are, especially for withdrawals and deposits,” KPMG said.

The survey was conducted across the country to provide an in-depth look at customer needs, behavior, and service across banks in Kenya.

In previous customer satisfaction surveys by the Kenyan Bankers Association (KBA), Cooperative Bank was named overall winner for 2022 and 2023. According to the 2021 Survey Report by The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and FSD Kenya, the age groups of 26-35 and 36-45 have the highest access to formal financial services at 90 per cent and 91 per cent respectively, with the Kenyan aggregate formal access level at 83.7 per cent.

This growth is attributed to advances in financial technology and innovations, especially in mobile money and mobile banking. Of those who have access to formal financial services, 44.1 percent currently use a bank.

Research indicates that the majority of the banked population are between 26-35 years of age, and the main services they access include savings accounts, mobile banking, current accounts, cash deposits/withdrawals from branch tellers, and cash deposits/withdrawals from bank agents.