The South African Consumer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) report was released last week, highlighting which bank South African’s think is the best.
The overall score for the five retail banks tested – Nedbank, Standard Bank, Absa, First National Bank (FNB), and Capitec - was 76.3 out of 100.
In order to achieve an overall score, the report looks at customer expectations, customer loyalty, perceived value and complaints from each of the banks.
And the winner is…
Capitec came out on top, with a score of 82.3 out of 100, followed closely by FNB with a score of 79.3 out of 100.
“We are not only reflected as the best service bank but also perceived as the “best value” bank by a substantial margin in the industry,” said Carl Fischer, executive of marketing and corporate affairs at Capitec.
Nedbank and Absa tied for third place with a score of 78.4 out of 100, and Standard Bank came in last.
“Standard Bank this year has fallen to the bottom of the log with an overall SAcsi score of 73.7 out of 100,” said the report.
Jacqui Carnelley, Head of Personal and Business Banking for Standard Bank, said that they were dissapointed with the outcome.
"For an organisation that is clearly focused on the customer and strives to excel at customer service, we would have hoped to rank higher," she said.
Banking channels
The report also highlights customer satisfaction with certain banking channels, like ATM’s or mobile banking.
All the banks maintained a similar score of 79.7 out of 100 for ATM satisfaction.
However, banking apps have shown the most change, with all banks increasing their satisfaction scores for banking apps except Nedbank.
FNB and Standard Bank both recorded higher scores than last year, with FNB named as the leader for banking apps.
"Standard Bank has also partnered with SAP to create a world class banking platform. The migration from our old legacy systems to the new platform is currently underway and our customers will soon be in a position to experience the benefits of this new technology," said Carnelley.
FNB was also the winner when it came to cellphone banking, although the report said that it looks like the gap is closing.
“FNB was also the only bank to score above the industry average for online banking. Absa and Capitec improved on last year’s satisfaction scores,” said the report.