Heightened banking sector competition has driven more customers to open accounts with multiple lenders to access a range of benefits, according to the latest survey.
Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) says more than a half of bank customers maintained more than one bank account in 2023, a trend that highlights a growing desire for customised convenience in services and products among bank customers.
In its Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey (2023), KBA says the level of bank clients with two bank accounts stood at 53 percent compared to 48.2 percent in the 2022 survey.
The survey further reveals a notable shift towards multi-banking, with approximately 62.6 percent of customers opting for multiple bank relationships, compared to 37.4 percent who maintain a single-bank relationship.
There was a notable rise in the proportion of customers holding four to five bank accounts, increasing from 5.8 percent in 2022 to 8.2 percent in 2023.
Similarly, respondents holding more than six accounts also saw a slight increase from 0.7 percent to 1.2 percent over the same period.
KBA chief executive officer Habil Olaka said the growing trend in multi- banking underscored increasing competition among players in the banking sector in product offerings as well as in customer experience.
“Considering the elevated level of flexibility at the banking public’s disposal, banks that prioritise the needs of customers will continue to have a significant competitive edge over the rest,’’ said Olaka.
The preference for digital and mobile banking channels continued to grow, with mobile banking witnessing a surge in popularity, rising to 69.9 percent from 67.8 percent in 2022, indicating a growing reliance on digital solutions over traditional branch visits.
Further, the survey findings place the access rate to banking services by Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) at 88 percent.
However, 6.5 percent of PWDs still require a third party to access services, denying the banking population an opportunity to manage their finances independently and equally participate in the economy.
Olaka noted that the efforts are underway to address the challenge under the banking industry Persons with Disability Accessibility project. Coordinated by KBA, the project seeks to enable banks to put measures in place that will ensure full and independent access to banking services.
The survey respondents ranked Cooperative Bank as the best overall bank in customer experience, followed by NCBA Bank and Family Bank respectively.
In the Tier I category, Cooperative Bank maintained the top position, followed by NCBA Bank and KCB Bank in position three.
Meanwhile, Family Bank emerged best in the Tier II category with National Bank and Prime Bank taking the second and third positions respectively.
ABC Bank topped in the Tier III category while Sidian and HFC Bank took the second and third positions respectively.
The survey was conducted by interviewing over 30,000 customers of Kenyan banks from across the country.
“Co-op Bank will continue to invest substantial resources in building the teams, the tools and the technologies to deliver a fulfilling customer experience across all our service channels,” said Co-op Bank Group Managing Director & CEO Gideon Muriuki while commenting on the award.
The results show that the respondents had an overwhelmingly positive view of their banks’ customer experience. Ninety-six (96.9) percent of the respondents rated their experience with their banks above three (3).
For instance, 49.7 percent of the respondents rated their experience with their main banks at five (5), the highest rating. In addition, 37.2 percent rated it at four (4) and 10 percent rated their customer experience at three (3).
