Portions of the Ghana Customer Service Index (GCSI) report, specifically the part on customer experience (CX) in the country’s financial sector, indicates that customer loyalty has risen from -3.7 per cent in the previous year to 5 per cent in 2019.
In simple terms, Customer Loyalty means the extent to which customers are devoted to a particular company’s products or services or how strong is their tendency to choose or patronise one brand over the competition.
Financial sector reforms
In January, 2017, the Bank of Ghana took the initiative to reform the ailing banking sector. It announced a new recapitalisation requirement, which was to be met by the banks by the end of 2018.
The initial capital requirements, as announced by the Governor of the Central Bank, was GH¢230 million, but this figure was later reviewed to GH¢400 million.
In the end, some banks had to be folded up for their inability to meet their minimum capital requirement while several other saving and loans companies had to go under receivership.
This seemingly bold decision of the BoG received a mixed reaction, comprising both doom and bliss.
But nearly a year after the exercise, it appears confidence in the financial sector is gradually being restored, as evident by the figures churned out in the GSCI report, which attributed the growth in CX to the financial sector reforms.
The GSCI Report
Conducted by the Institute of Customer Service Professionals (ICSP), the study collected data on key metrics such as professionalism, customer-focused innovations, feedback and complaints, processes and procedures as well as staff engagement among others.
Again, it also indicated that data was gathered from over 1,200 respondents of various sectors in Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi.
Additionally, the report also mentioned that many CX happened over the traditional channels, meaning that there still exist an opportunity for the financial sector introduce technology, such as e-payment systems to improve the CX of their clients.
The financial institutions with significant sample sizes that were rated in the survey included Fidelity Bank, Access Bank, Ghana Commercial Bank, Ecobank, ADB, Stanbic Bank, Zenith Bank, Barclays Bank (now Absa)
UMB, Merchant Bank.
By Salifu B.B. Moro
