The latest South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) for the local banking industry shows that overall satisfaction with South African banks has improved – with Capitec still leading the way.

With an average industry score of 76.5 (out of 100), the South African banking industry has improved on its customer relations from 76.3 recorded in 2016.

According to Consulta, which runs the index, the SAcsi Benchmark for Retail Banks offers impartial insights into the South African retail banking industry by blending a Customer Expectations Index, Perceived Quality Index and a Perceived Value Index to achieve an overall result out of 100.

South Africa’s top five retail banks are included in the industry index – namely Absa, Capitec, FNB, Nedbank and Standard Bank.

# Bank 2016 Score 2017 Score Change (%) 1 Capitec 83.8 83.1 -0.7

(-0.8%) 2 FNB 79.8 81.3 +1.5

(+1.9%) Industry Average 76.3 76.5 +0.2

(+0.3%) 3 Nedbank 75.6 77.0 +1.4

(+1.9%) 4 Absa 74.3 74.2 -0.1

(-0.1%) 5 Standard Bank 73.0 71.9 -1.1

(-1.5%)

The sample used to determine the scores is one of the largest of all SAcsi industries included, with 17,483 randomly selected banking customers being included in the latest survey.

“In the banking industry, we have empirical evidence that customer experience drives customer satisfaction rather than product innovation. Thanks to the ease of banking and simplicity of services, Capitec and FNB both performed strongly in this area,” said Consulta CEO, Professor Adré Schreuder.

“FNB showed the highest improvement and is now within reach of Capitec, with Nedbank still in the race. The intensity in competing for customers’ hearts and minds is fierce since only two banks have managed to improve their scores this year, namely FNB and Nedbank.

“Despite the Barclays announcement, Absa showed resilience in maintaining its score at the same level as (last year’s findings).”

Banking loyalty

According to Consulta, overall customer industry loyalty has decreased in the last three years from 71.3 in 2014/15 to 70.2 in 2015/16 to 68.7 in the latest 2016/17 benchmark.

However, the group pointed out that in that same period, Capitec has enjoyed steadily increasing customer loyalty while FNB has recovered from 2015’s downturn.

Both scoring 75.3 in this survey, Capitec and FNB have the most loyal customers while Standard Bank, scoring 63.1, has the least loyal customers.

“Low loyalty scores should be an area of great concern, particularly as brands such as FNB and Capitec market themselves on the ease of switching to their banks,” said Schreuder.

Read: 5 predictions for South Africa’s banking industry