Digital banking in Northern India : the risks on customer satisfaction

Abstract

The widespread use of digital technologies and the current pandemic (COVID) have fueled the need and call for digital transformation in the banking sector. Although this has various benefits, it is a disruption to the norm to which a bank customer has to become accustomed. This variance means that customers would have to make some changes to their routine. This can constitute risks in terms of maintaining customer satisfaction at previous levels. These risks are associated with customer retention because a service or product needs to be aligned with customer expectations to avoid them switching to other service providers. Moreover, it can also have an effect on reputa- tion. Offering digital account opening or remote deposits may not satisfy customers; competitive advantage depends on many aspects such as providing a hassle-free, personalized and cyber-secure experience, economic aspects and the needs of the society at large. Therefore, there is a need to understand the intensity of the risk factors that influence customer satisfaction for digitalized banking services and products. To do this, we carried out a structured survey, framed on the five dimensions of the SERVQUAL model, which was sent out to Northern Indian banking customers, to which we received 222 valid responses. We subjected the data received to Structural Equation Modelling using the SmartPLS version 3 application software. Results reveal that digital banking customers in Northern India are genuinely satisfied with the quality of services provided by digital banking. Moreover, ‘reliability’ has the strongest risk factor impact on customer satisfaction, followed by ‘tangibility’ and ‘responsiveness’.