As the banking sector continues to deepen its digital footprint and take most of its services online, many Kenyans are still clinging to the traditional physical channels to access the services.
A survey by consultancy firm KPMG shows that nearly half of bank customers in Kenya would rather visit a branch, an agent, or an automated teller machine (ATM) to access banking services such as credit, savings, and withdrawal among others, despite banks moving most of these services online.
Contrastingly, the Central Bank of Kenya reports that over three-quarters of Kenyan commercial and microfinance banks now actively leverage financial technology solutions to modernise their operations and services, up from 60 percent in 2022.
Analysts attribute the mismatch to bad user experience from the new online and mobile banking, smartphone apps, and unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) deployed by banks.
“In as much as many people are on the mobiles and online, there’s still a demand for branch, in-person, because some people are just comfortable having a conversation over the counter about what they want,” says Christine Onyango, public affairs director at the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA).
The latest Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey by KBA last year revealed that although the majority of banks’ customers today utilise mobile and internet banking platforms to access services, over half still use physical or in-person channels to access banking services.
A more recent study done this June by KPMG revealed that at least 49 per cent of Kenyan bank customers still prefer branches, agents, or ATMs to the innovative digital channels that banks have recently introduced.
According to experts, this points to gaps in experience research on the satisfaction of the users of these digital platforms, but also the changing nature of personal banking in a world where most things are going virtual.
Morgan Odok, a user experience designer and product manager for online banking at Family Bank Kenya, argues there is some inconsistency in digital platforms, which coupled with security concerns and sometimes sophisticated processes, discourages customers from them.
“The only way to counter that physical experience at the branch would be to ensure that all the digital channels are interoperable, whereby if I initiate a transaction on the web and somehow, I can’t complete it, I can be able to log onto an app and complete it,” he argued.
Most banks currently do not allow this. Online banking services are often distinct from mobile banking or smartphone apps, and users have to register for each service separately.
“It is not about how robust a mobile banking or web banking application is, it’s about the experience. People pay highly for the experience than the functionalities,” Odok added.
Mutugi Kirema, a user experience (UX) researcher at Marathon XP, says argues that this is why it is important to do UX research, although it is a concept that’s just beginning to pick pace in Kenya.
“User research helps to understand what are some of the things that are changing for the customer, what are some of the new wants that they have,” Mr Kirema told Business Daily.
“These needs and wants keep changing, so banks have to make sure that they’re in line with them.”
Banking halls were not so long ago characterised by long queues with several customers seeking services each day, and many people couldn’t wait for a better alternative to physically visiting bank branches.
But according to Mr Odok, now that this has changed, many customers now crave the in-person experience and find it more satisfying than using digital platforms, driving the new shift.
Last year, Kenyan banks opened over 20 new branches across the country, and more have been opened this year in the race to meet customer experience expectations even as they also expand their digital service offerings.
Industry data shows that at least 80 branches have been added to the market over the last three years and about 21 are in the pipeline.
Large banks including KCB, Co-operative Bank of Kenya, NCBA, and DTB Bank have led the way in opening new branches across the country. The budget for setting up these branches runs into billions of shillings according to the estimates from the industry.
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