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| KCB bank branch |
Many bank customers are opting to use mobile applications by banks to conduct daily transactions according to a new survey by auditing firm, KPMG.
According to 2024 Kenya Banking Industry Customer Experience Survey conducted by the firm in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu regions, 42pc of those surveyed said they interact with their primary bank through mobile app compared to 24pc who said they visit physical branch, 14pc who use agents and 11pc who use Automated Teller Machines 9ATM).
“Our research indicates that majority of the banked population are between 26-35 years of age, and the main services they access include savings account, mobile banking, current account, cash deposit/withdrawal from branch teller and cash deposit/withdrawal from bank agent,” said the firm in the report.
The use of mobile apps to access financial services has been driven by the high internet penetration and use of smartphones that have made the services accessible to the 39 million customers served by Kenyan banks.
Latest data from the Communications Authority indicate that as at the end of March this year, total number of mobile data subscriptions stood at 51.3 million out of which 72.6 percent were on mobile broadband. During the same period, the number of smartphones connected to mobile networks also rose to 34.5 million.
KPMG says withdrawals are the leading transaction conducted by bank customers in Kenya at 52pc followed by deposits at 50pc and savings 29pc.
“The main transaction types include withdrawals 50pc, deposits 34pc, funds transfer 5pc while request for bank statement 3pc,” the firm notes.
The survey further revealed that majority of bank customers at 47pc is mostly concerned with excellent customer experience as opposed to cost of a banking service which concerns only 6pc of the respondents.
“This implies that customers’ sensitivity to charges and costs is low, and they rank customer experience over and above the cost it takes to access services via a given channel. For banks in Kenya, excellent customer experience should be a key focus of the service offering. Banks need to have a well articulated customer experience strategy to facilitate a blueprint in offering quality customer experience to customers,” stated the survey.
KPMG says the survey had 886 respondents from Nairobi, Coast and Western region out of which 25pc were business customers while 75pc were retail customers.
By Ronald Owili