Paper on Wide Array of Online Services and Their Impacts on Customer Satisfaction in the Banking Industry

DECLARATION

This project is my original work and has not been presented for a degree in any other university or any other award. The project was painstakingly conducted by the researcher himself and was not plagiarized or copied. As such all sources be the primary or secondary, where references were sought, were mentioned in the study. In a nutshell the study was conducted in all manner of academic integrity because the researcher was truly looking to garner invaluable insights on the subject matter and to make an identity of research gaps in all the areas of study that resonate with matters of customer satisfaction and online banking.

Abstract

This study aims at complementing the existing comprehension and knowledge in the realms of the banking sector. The study, therefore, explores the wide array of online services and their impacts on customer satisfaction in the banking industry, with a specific focus on a case study of the National Bank of Investment in Cote dIvoire. Along these lines, this dissertation will prove to be immensely valuable to policy makers and all stakeholders in the banking industry as it will provide a deeper insight and a better perspective of the concept of internet banking and its contribution towards customer satisfaction. In so doing, the study outlines the online services offered by the National Bank of Investment and adopts a comparative approach to diverse perspectives and schools of thought on the impacts of these services. The comparative approach then aids in depicting the relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality and ultimately propose plausible recommendations towards the enhancement of customer satisfaction to online users of the National Bank of Investment.

Key words; online banking, customers, satisfaction, National Bank of Investment, BNI

CHAPTER 11.1

Introduction

Today, in light of the prevailing global competition, successful firms are necessitated to hold customers needs in high regards. Long these lines, the nature of products and services offered by these firms guarantees them a competitive advantage. This perspective has been backed by a cohort of researchers and industry experts who affirm that the surest approach to making progress is to provide quality products that are appealing to the underlying customers. Furthermore, familiarity with the idea of service quality and its endeavors to enhance it has been directed to the nature of services. As such, expanding levels of service quality can upgrade consumer loyalty (Donnelly, et al. 2006). Moreover, the past decades have been characterized by heightened development of the customer satisfaction index especially among the leading economies in the world. This index has then been affiliated with an array of financial and economic benefits depicted on these economies performances on the global spectrums. Subsequently, broad and comprehensive development of Information Technology sensibilities greatly affects the execution of business, and the way organizations work has changed from the conventional realms. Big technological advancements such as but not limited to e-commerce and online banking mirror section of the significant outcomes of the increased adoption of Information Technology in Global as well local organizations that have attempted to meet their consumers needs. Along these lines, the banking industry in Cote dIvoire is one of the powerful economic establishments in the regions and assumes an unequivocal part in the nation movement. Also, this development mirrored by customers of the National Bank of Investment who are essential components of the bank; along these lines, the significance of consumer satisfaction becomes unmistakably self-evident.

With the end goal of enhancing service delivery and customer satisfaction, organizations in the banking sector have progressively invested in Information Technology as mirrored by extensive use of electronic gadgets. The use of technology has also proven to be immensely valuable in meeting customers superior, dynamic, ever-growing needs. The developing consideration of the collective banking sector to offer effective services through electronic channels and online platforms have also intensified competition in the industry, hence the need to develop in line with technological changes and by the provision of new services in the dynamic domains of internet banking with the end goal of achieving customer satisfaction. Furthermore, lack of effective planning as institutions continue to venture into these developments could result in adverse ramifications.

1.2 Background

Since its phenomenal inception, the Internet has been utilized across all industries by the masses and has acquired various advantages to offer, particularly in Internet Banking administrations. Today, most individuals are so consumed in their work lives, at the expense of carrying out direct banking transactions. Consequently, the banking industry has integrated online services to merit these customers who cannot make it to the bank for frequent physical transactions. Thus, these online services empower individuals to carry out a large portion of their banking transactions on secure frameworks. Be that as it may, online services vary across various banks and realms. The greater part of the general online services includes but are not limited to account statuses, funds transfers, payments, and financial statements CITATION Buz09 \l 1033 (Buzzle, 2009). These are not the greater part of the online services accessible because various banks are distinctive and in the focused way of banks they are continually offering new components to draw in clients. Banks make their accounts management interfaces and sites in a perceptible and easy to use way, which empower customers to direct their money related an exchange easily with most of these services being offered at minimal or zero charges.

Comprehensive research has been conducted concerning customer satisfaction in the banking sector. Most studies showed interest in customer satisfaction and the emergence of online banking throughout the years with the advancement of technology in its application to banking services. In Cote dIvoire, there are 5,230,000 Internet users 2016, 22.0% of the population, there is no accurate statistics of the number of users accessing online banking. Customer satisfaction from online banking is yet to be studied. The research that has been done in other countries was based on the sex, age, education and occupation. The research question is at what rate do online banking users transact through the service and what has been the output compared to traditional banking transactions?

1.3 Statement of Problem

Customer centricity, being in resonance with customer satisfaction, repeat buys, and fattened bottom lines, is the concern of many a bank in Cote DIvore as a country and all over the world. All banks, BNI (NATIONAL BANK OF INVESTMENT) included, havethe desire to create a niche for themselves in the market and to get the attention and loyalty of as many customers as possible. In a bid to reach out to more prospective customers and to maintain existing ones, banks have time and again offered online platforms or rather online banking through which customers can get to realize basic banking functions such as withdrawal, making deposits, and checking account balances. The real challenge that comes with investments geared towards giving customers the best of online banking is that despite being expensive in the short run, there is no knowing as to whether such a venture will pay in the long run or will not. In addition to that, the managements of banks such as BNI actually have a hard time finding out if a particular customer base in the many demographics they operate in will actually respond positively to online banking platforms or whether they will prove to be a total waste of time and money on the part of the bank involved.In addition to that, the fact that many individuals choose to stick to the conventional method of going to the counter and withdrawing or depositing money has proven to be conflicting with the idea of online banking. Thisis further compounded by illiteracy levels that define particular customer demographics; illiteracy in such a context connotes to the fact that some customers do not know how to use the internet and as a result find no use in the ideology behind online banking. By and large online banking is a method that promises to satisfy customers and to make them feel considered but the results are sometimes contradicting once banks choose to invest in that particular direction.

Competition happens to be a basic characteristic of the banking industry in Ivory Coast and...