Service Delivery in Nigeria’s Banking Industry

Chapter One of Service Delivery in Nigeria’s Banking Industry

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The banking industry of any nation is the machinery which propels the development of its economy. Many Banks have been created and thereby giving chance to the competitive banking services that may bring about satisfaction to their customers.

It is believed that every goal of the organization is to meet the needs and requirement of its customers. Meeting the needs and requirement of the customers will not only ensure the survival of the organization but also allow it to flourish. Service delivery has become important in many ways for most organizations but the general view is that many organizations do not consider it serious. Service delivery is the act of providing a service to customers, so without customers there is no service delivery. The customer service delivery management is a compulsory section of the Bank. Deposit money Banks form the largest and is the country’s most important group of financial institutions with a great degree of competition among banks in Nigeria. It is important for Guaranty Trust Bank Plc to improve the quality of their service delivery.

The key to building lasting customers relationship is in delivering quality service to create superior customer values and satisfaction. According to Kotler and Armstrong (2008 p.13) “Satisfied customers are more likely to be loyal customers and to give the bank a larger share in their business”. The growth of competition in banks has led to the customer being stronger because he or she has various options to choose from. It is those banks that have excellent customers satisfaction in their service delivery that succeed in this environment of high of competition.

The success of customer service delivery provider depends on highly quality relationship with a customer who determines his satisfaction and loyalty. According to Kotler and Keller (2006 p.139) “Marketers must connect with customers, informing, engaging and may even energize them in the process” . The corporate objective of any bank which is maximization of shareholders wealth can only be achieved if customers are retained and satisfied. This is in accordance with the belief that the key to successful marketing of financial service is identification and packaging of customers’ needs to their satisfaction.

Competition in the Nigeria banking sector is very high due to regulatory imperatives of categorized banking and also due to customer’s awareness of their right. Bank customers have become increasingly demanding as they require high quality and immediate service delivery they need additional improvement of value from their chosen banks. Customer service delivery in banks is personal. Customers are either served immediately or join a queue if the system is busy.

Profit maximization objectives  may not be easy to achieve in banking without a good level of customer base, as this customer base enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the service rendered to the customer. In other words, the faster they get attended to, the more the customer would be encouraged to keep their money with the bank. Customer service delivery therefore involves the means through which there would be a mutually beneficial satisfaction of non-tangible product needs of the customers by those who have a will to satisfy these needs.

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc is one of the leading Nigerian banks with a corporate banking bias and strong service culture that has led to consistent year-on-year growth in the bank’s clientele base and financial indices.

It was incorporated as a limited liability company licensed to provide commercial and other banking services to the Nigerian public in 1990 and commenced operation in February 1991.

In September 1996, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc became a publicly quoted company and won the Nigerian Stock Exchange President’s merit award. In February, 2002, the bank was granted a universal banking license and later appointed a settlement bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2003.

On July 26, 2007 the Bank was as very first Sub-Saharan Bank and first Nigerian Joint Stock Company listed on London Stock Exchange.

In the same year, they successful placed Nigerian first private Eurobond issue on the international capital markets.

The GT Bank USD 500,000 000 Eurobond was the first ever benchmark Eurobond issue by a Nigerian Corporate and the second. Eurobond programme by GT Bank. In the last five years.

They introduced online banking, sms banking in Nigeria and a naira denominated MasterCard as well as the platinum world sigma cards and with GT Bank-on-wheels mobile branches.

On March 12, 2008 GT Bank was given a banking license for the United Kingdom by the Financial Service Authority.

GTB is a partner of Eko Atlantic City a new made Island (820ho). In the Atlantic Ocean, adjacent to Victoria Island, Lagos. It will be home of the new financial District. The building of Eko Atlantic City started in 2009 and is expected to be finished in 2016.

During the Bank’s 20th Anniversary in 2010, a set of postage stamps were launched by the Nigerian Postal Service. This was the first time in Nigeria that a corporate organization was honoured in such a way.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In Nigeria, the customer service unit that renders services is important in Banks than all other organizations of the economy. Yet, the Bank still has a long way to go in order to satisfy the customers.

The banking business today has gone beyond where the customer had to look for the banker to transact business. It is now that era of highly competitive business among banks. These banks now engage in aggressive search for the customer to patronize their products and service.