UAE banks need to up their customer service game, according to new KPMG research that gauged customer sentiment based on social media conversations.
Service complaints accounted for half of the industry conversations on social media platforms, findings from the UAE Banking Sentiment Index show.
The research, conducted by KPMG in partnership with BrandsEye, is based on an analysis of 41,430 public tweets about major UAE banks over three months, with each post receiving a sentiment rating of positive, neutral or negative; scores were then used to create a net sentiment ranking for each bank.
“The boundaries between front and back offices are blurring and banks are becoming closer to their customers, driven to innovate by the insights they gain. Customer-centric banks today are structuring their operations in new and exciting ways,” said Goncalo Traquina, partner, KPMG Lower Gulf.
“The UAE Banking Sentiment Index highlights how customer service responsiveness can be a competitive differentiator, translating into greater profitability. It is, therefore, crucial to build trust and sustain value through all customer experiences and interactions.”
Goncalo Traquina, partner, KPMG Lower Gulf.
Managing online reputation is critical for business success, the report found.
But major UAE banks have struggled during the pandemic as more customer interaction shifted online. Forty-four percent of customer complaints were about the long response time – the average of which is 13 hours to respond to direct conversations.
The report also found that banks do not respond to over a third of priority conversations, with 22.4 percent of customers saying a lack of response was their biggest pain point. Nearly 10 percent said that dealing with multiple customer service agents to get assistance was the biggest issue.
The top three topics that dominated the share of conversations were customer service, reputation and products, with negative sentiments of 92 percent, 75 percent and 90 percent, respectively.
“Covid-19 has forced many consumers to turn to digital channels, such as social media, to contact their banks for assistance. As consumers increasingly expect the same standard of service across all channels and providers, there is a business imperative for banks to rapidly evolve their customer service efforts on social media platforms,” Nic Ray, CEO of BrandsEye said.
Follow us on
