Introduc
The role of a banking system in a contemporary state with a free market economy can hardly be overestimated. The system of commercial banks serves as an important mean of financial disposition between market participants providing in such a way an effective economic development and functioning of any country. The activity of any commercial bank depends upon its consumers and their trust.
Scope
The aim of the given research is to investigate different aspects of communication between banks and various categories of customers. The investigation is based on the result of the survey conducted among 10 participants of a different gender from different countries. There are two respondents from Egypt and India. The rest of them are from the UAE. The age of the participants of the survey ranges from 18 to 64. The majority of the surveyed participants have higher education.
Method
The survey was conducted by means of a questionnaire given to the participants. During the experiment, the respondents were asked to fill up a form consisting of questions revealing their banking experience and their attitudes towards banking activity.
Results
During the survey, it was found out that, at average, the participants had been using banking services for 6.2 years.
A significant percentage of those who took part in the survey expressed approval of such banking services as mobile banking (33%) and online banking (55%). They appreciated the convenience and availability of these services. Moreover, it was found out that 67% of participants preferred to use their bank cards while shopping.
Based on these findings we have found out that when specific banking information is needed most participants (50%) prefer to use face-to-face communication, 30% prefer a telephone conversation and only 20% trust to email.
While evaluating the most frequent problems the participants had experienced dealing with their banks, most of them considered them to be technical problems and problems with online services (40%). At the same time, 20% of respondents stated definite problems in communication with bank employees, 30% were unsatisfied with insufficient or incomplete information concerning banking products.
As it is shown in Appendix 1 while employing banking services consumers face different problems. The participants were asked to point out what major communication problems they had experienced when they had received adequate help with a difficult banking issue. The results of the survey have shown that two major problems are the dissatisfaction of a client by a particular bank service and the lack of bank employees’ professionalism in communication with clients.
The participants of the survey stated that in spite of the fact that they had received the necessary support from their bank, there had been several cases of bank employee’s faulty explanation (20%). 20% of participants were disappointed with a particular bank service. At the same time, there were also problems of misunderstanding between the clients and bank personnel. 10% of respondents stated that this misunderstanding had been caused by an unsuccessful way of explaining their problems. Nevertheless, 10% of participants considered it to be a fault of a bank because of an inappropriate response of its employee.
The participants of the survey were asked to answer the same questions, but in a situation when a necessary help had not been given. The results of this questionnaire are shown in Appendix 2. It is seen that in a situation when the demands of consumers are not satisfied, there is a tendency for an increased misunderstanding in communication.
The prevailing number of participants stated that their problem had not been solved because of inappropriate feedback from a bank employee (50%). 20% of those who were responded were of the opinion that the main reason was a bank employee’s faulty explanation. 10% of respondents admitted that they had not managed to explain their problems, and 10% of participants were unsatisfied with a particular bank service.
Conclusion
As a result of our research, it is possible to conclude that in general, the level of credibility to banking products and services has a tendency for growth. This is proved by the increased popularity of such bank services as mobile banking and online banking. At the same time, among the participants, there were those who preferred to solve their problems in face-to-face communication, not trusting to modern technologies.
The results of our investigation have also shown that there exist certain problems in communication between banks and their clients. The fact that in a situation when problems of clients are not solved the major part of the participants consider it as a bank employee’s fault states that the problem of communication is rather important. It may be explained by a lack of professionalism or a lack of communicative skills of a bank employee. We think that the result of our project will be interesting for those banking institutions that want to improve their client servicing.
Appendix 1
Communication problem (positive feedback- when a necessary help was given).
Appendix 2
Communication problem (negative feedback- when a necessary help was not given).