A recent survey carried out by NOI Polls has revealed that Deposit Money Banks are exploiting their customers.
NOI Polls Limited, a non-governmental opinion polling and research organisation, in a statement on Tuesday, said, that the banking public expressed concern over the poor service delivery and the unexplained charges by banks on their transactions.
It stated, “The need to grow profits is seen as a trade-off for quality customer relationship and service delivery. As the banking industry has gone from about 85 banks to 22 banks over the last decade, there is an increased pressure to stay relevant and profitable in a closely regulated industry.
“This pressure has continued to cause a decline in satisfaction levels with several customer engagement platforms specifically with the old fashioned ‘customer service desk.’ The customer has become more intelligent on the range of services this function should cover and so has raised the bar of expectations for banks.
“It is against this backdrop that NOI Polls sought the opinions of banking customers on customer relations and service delivery of Nigerian banks over the last quarter. It is our hope that the results from this poll will guide banking executives and relevant corporate/customer service champions to re-orientate the industry on quality service delivery and sustained customer relationship, after all the ‘customer is king.”
Investigation by our correspondent revealed that some of the hidden charges as N500 monthly maintenance fee for every current account, depending on the bank; N5 inter-state commission for every N1,000 transferred into or withdrawn from savings accounts in a state different from where the savings account is opened or domiciled.
According to the survey, First Bank of Nigeria Plc was adjudged to have the best customer service delivery. It was closely followed by Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.
Others are Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Ecobank Nigeria, and Access Bank Plc.
Analysing the results of the poll, it stated that First Bank was mainly strong in terms of customer service in the South-East with 37 per cent and South-South with 35 per cent while GTBank was particularly strong in the South-West with 35 per cent.
It said, “Zenith Bank is second to First Bank in the South-East with 16 per cent while UBA was second to First Bank in the North-West with 21 per cent.
“Analysis according to gender shows more female, 31 per cent, rooting for First Bank over GTBank with 23 per cent whilst there is only a difference of one per cent for the males.”
