July 2014
Featured in this insight: Financial services, IT & telecommunications, Retail
E-retailers offer best customer service levels, survey shows: Customer service in banks ranked second only to e-retail service, according to an international survey conducted by KPMG.
The study quizzed 5,000 Britain, American, German, Chinese and Australian customers, across 160 leading banks, general insurers, life insurers, and telecommunication and utility companies.
Findings revealed that almost half (45%) of the survey’s respondents said e-retail offered the highest level of customer service, gaining 5% more votes than any other sector.
With two fifths (40%) of the votes, banks came in second, followed by general insurers (38%), life insurers (34%) and utility companies (31%).
The results also suggested that customers are more likely to recommend their bank over any other of their service providers.
Banks in Australia and Germany performed best with satisfaction scores of 43%, with UK banks lagging behind with less than two fifths (38%) of fulfilled customers.
Elsewhere, almost half (46%) of Chinese respondents said that they had received improved levels of customer satisfaction in their banks – 30% higher than in the UK and one fifth (20%) higher than any other sector average.
David Sayer, global head of banking at KPMG, commented: “Given the reputation of the UK’s banking sector has been damaged by mis-selling scandals, it is unsurprising that the UK lags behind other regions.”
Mark Guinibert, UK banking partner at KPMG, added: “A key lesson banks can learn from e-retailers is that technology is key, and as customers become more comfortable with digital channels, their satisfaction levels increase as well. Innovation is essential.”
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