Research Proposal on Online Services Affecting Customer Satisfaction in the Banking Industry

Abstract

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This is a research proposal on online services affecting customer satisfaction in the banking industry a case study of National Bank of Investment in Cote d'Ivoire. The objectives of the study were;

To determine the number of services offered in the online banking in National Bank of Investment.

To compare the perception of people regarding the services they are provided to what they expect in National Bank of Investment.

To examine the relationship between satisfaction and service quality to online users of National Bank of Investment.

To discover the major dimensions that form quality of services determination by online users of National Bank of Investment.

To make recommendations on enhancement of customer satisfaction to online users of National Bank of Investment.

The sampling is convenience sampling and it uses the questionnaire as a data collection tool.

Rationale of the study

Introduction and background of the study

The success of any firm, even the in financial sector depends on the satisfaction of their customers. Satisfaction varies between the individual clients or services that they are receiving. Thus, it is subjective and hard to determine. Customers are satisfied regarding the quality of services that they are receiving, like at what extent if their needs are met (Fornell, 1992). The value, on the other hand, is the significance associated with the service and at what charge. Satisfaction is the ability of an organization to satisfy the customers needs or wants. All these terms are used in describing the satisfaction of clients.

The banking sector has similar products and services. To remain competitive in the market, banks have to adopt marketing strategies that tend to keep the loyal customers in their organization rather than finding new ones. Satisfaction of customer mostly depends on how better, how much faster and how much cheap. As satisfaction of clients is subjective, there is always a gap that can be filled and room for improvement (Giese & Cote, 2000, p. 15). The output of customer satisfaction is getting larger market shares, revenue development, and customer loyalty. Satisfied customers also act like marketing tools as they can share the banks' details through word of mouth to their colleagues. Additionally, the quality of services also comes in handy in the promotion of the firms to obtaining new customers interested in their services.

Modern technology is accompanied by better ways of communicating with the customers, service delivery and in a larger picture, better marketing strategies. Online banking happens to be one of the most profound ways that banks can reach their customers. Customers no longer have to queue in banking halls waiting to be served as most services can be found online. Some of the services include account summary, overdraft information, requesting online, details of a transaction, transfers of funds, the addition of beneficiary accounts, facilitation of e-payment and standing order among others. Almost all the banking services have been digitalized making access much easier and faster.

The aim of this paper is to determine the effects of online services in the banking industry in Cote dIvoire.

Definition of key concepts

Online services - dissemination of services and information on diverse transfer platforms by banks to their customers that can be accessed through intelligent gadgets and devices like computers and mobile phones (Daniel, 1999).

Customer satisfaction the client's reaction to the assessment of the perceived end results against the services consumed (Tse and Cote, 2000).

The quality of services and Customer satisfaction quality of services is the extent to which a service is executed to clients contentment and customer satisfaction as the magnitude a product or a service offered compared to the expectations of the consumer (Kotler et al., 2002).

Bank in Cote dIvoire these are the countries that are established in Cote d'Ivoire.

Literature Foundation

Concepts of customer satisfaction

Online services

Online banking services enable a customer to perform online transactions in their client banks. The emergence of technology, the internet and new economy has encouraged the use of online transactions which are faster, cheaper and convenient. Electronic banking has enabled customers to place requests and execution of transactions through smartphones, computers and even digital television. Thus electronic banking can be defined as dissemination of services and information on various transfer platforms by banks to their customers that can be accessed through intelligent gadgets and devices like computers and mobile phones (Daniel, 1999). Other authors like Keivani et al., (2012) defines electronic banking as a process of executing transactions electronically regardless of location or without being in the banking hall. It provides clients an opportunity to access their financial accounts, perform transactions and other banking services through the internet and other networks either private or public.

Online banking goes way back in 1980s in New York where the most established banks like Chase Manhattan, Citibank, Manufactured Hannover and Chemical were offering services through phone calls. It was then adopted in 1983 in the United Kingdom by the Bank of Scotland. By then, there were only services like the view of transaction statements and payment of bills (Shannak, 2013). In America 1995, Maryland Presidential Bank first orchestrated online bank account opening. By April 2012, 423.5 million people were transacting financially through e-banking.

Electronic banking is currently categorized into mobile banking, u=internet banking, home banking and personal computer (PC) banking (Driga, 2012). Mobile banking is allowing customers to transact their financial processes through mobile devices. Mobile devices depend on Wireless Application protocol (WAP) to access connection either the=rough personal, private or the internet. However, internet banking uses the internet to a link channel to access banking services and products. The customer needs to have login details to access their accounts to execute their requests. In personal computer banking, the bank provides the customers with software that provides the banking services remotely. Lastly, home banking refers to the ability to access and perform transactions from home through phone call then passwords and access codes are provided to the bank. The customer can access the transaction of all other operations.

The advancement of banking services popularity and number of clients accessing online services privilege cybercrimes. Since access to online services involves authentication and authorization, it has led to hazards as the hacker, and computer viruses are designed masquerade as genuine likes and capture confidential information (Sokolov, 2007). Other crimes include downloading of file illegally, phishing and illegal transactions. Furthermore, pharming is used by hackers to push Trojans, worms, viruses and even spyware performing sophisticated attacks like alteration of host files, and poison Domain Name Server cache.

Customer satisfaction

Satisfaction with a service depends on the clients feelings in comparison either with their expectations of the services that are offered or the performance (Kotler & Keller, 2009, p. 789). It is also dependent on the services received at a point compared to an experience of getting the same service from another person or organization. It depends on which service makes the consumer happier. The user of a service will determine which of the services he would like to get next time they are in need of a similar element. A customer is a consumer, but a consumer is not necessarily a consumer. It becomes hard to satisfy everyone and to determine the degree contentment in a group of people.

When a client is happy, it shows that they are content with the services they are offered and that reflects positively on the firms about the objectives of their business. Tse and Cote (2000) define customer satisfaction as the client's reaction to the assessment of the perceived end results against the services consumed. Customer satisfaction is determined after the customers evaluate the services. Authors have argued that there is no precise definition of customer satisfaction and its a subjective matter. After their studies, they defined it as a response that relates to an individual focus that happens at a given time (Giese & Cote, 2000, p. 15). Therefore, there is no precise definition of customer satisfaction as the studies over the years have viewed it in a different perspective depending on the services that are offered and the kind of a market the service is being offered. Another author, Kotler et al. (2002), defined customer satisfaction as the magnitude a product or a service provided compared to the expectations of the consumer.

It is very hard to measure the extent of customer satisfaction because it about measuring a human feeling. Thus, Levy (2009), suggested that the only simple method of knowing customer satisfaction is to ask them directly. He raised suggestions of how to measure satisfaction. The first suggestion is that a researcher can assess ways which customers feedback can be converted into quantifiable quantitative data. Secondly, orchestrate discussions by a professional mediator to translate what the customer thinks. The last suggestion is to interact directly with the clients in informal settings. National Business Research Institute, NBRI, (2009) stated that interacting directly with each customer to give their feedbacks whether merits or demerits, ought to be considered. The aspects that can be used to determine customers satisfaction include quality of service, charges, the speed of service execution, the response to complaints, closure between the client and the firm and the type of services that can be used to improve their work.

Customer satisfaction is conceptualized into two, namely cumulative and transaction-specific (Andreassen, 2000). The former captures customers general assessment of services that they have been receiving over a given number of times in engagement with the firm. Cumulative customer satisfactions assessment ought to evaluate an organization performance from the past, look at what they are offering presently and the forecasting the future services to be provided. The latter, transaction-specific, is based on specific post-consumption services evaluation on an individual basis (Oliver, 1980). Most firms use cumulative customer satisfaction to improve their service delivery and products.

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