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ELECTRONIC BANKING IN GTBANK PLC

Quality of Service - Service quality is one of the main factors that determines the success

or failure of the banking sector (Santos, 2003). ccording to !hristo"her (200#), quality of aservice is a degree to $hich a service meets its s"ecifications, $ith em"hasis on meeting the

customer needs. %n other $ords, it is the degree to $hich a service satisfies the needs and

the e&"ectations of the user. 'hereas according to uran as quoted by ale (#***),quality of a service is fitness of that service for use. !onsumers vie$ quality of a service in

terms of certain dimensions. +he determinants of service quality include the ability of a

service to fulfill consumer needs or "roblems, ability to use the service $ithout any danger,risk or doubt, ability of a service to be easily accessible to the service users and ability of 

the service to be offered today and thereafter $henever a consumer needs it (!lark and

ohnson, 2000) .

'hereas according to onald et al., (#***) sometimes service quality is ust "erceived,

in $hich the consumer assumes an im"ression about a service and that the services are

 udged by their brand names and advertising to mention but a fe$. +he quality issues

of automated services in the banking conte&t are becoming im"ortant because of their  "otential influence on attractiveness, customer retention, "rofitability, "ositive $ord-of-

mouth, and ma&imum com"etitive advantages (outinho and Smith, 2000). ccording to!haudhary (#***), quality service delivery by an organi/ation has the advantage of 

creating a com"any re"utation. good com"any re"utation is an asset for the com"any

 because every organi/ation has a re"utation for quality, be it good or bad. uality servicedelivery increases market share because satisfied customers $ill buy more and recommend

the service to another consumer (Santos, 2003). %m"roved quality can lead to im"roved

market share and cost saving, $hich both affect "rofitability as it im"roves the

reliability, "erformance, fe$er defects and consequently lo$er costs of businesso"eration (1guyen and eblanc, #**).

+he alternative delivery channels are the biggest gro$th drivers for the banks. ccordingto eichheld and Sasser (#**0), migrating customers to alternative delivery channels

im"roves the quality and lo$ers the cost of service delivery. +he banks are getting

consumers to use the right channels for the right transactions and interactions (1guyenand eblanc, #**).!ustomer satisfaction is based on a recent e&"erience of the needs

and the e&"ectations of the user. 'hereas according to uran as quoted by ale (#***),

quality of a service is fitness of that service for use. !onsumers vie$ quality of a service in

terms of certain dimensions. +he determinants of service quality include the ability of aservice to fulfill consumer needs or "roblems, ability to use the service $ithout any danger,

risk or doubt, ability of a service to be easily accessible to the service users and ability of 

the service to be offered today and thereafter $henever a consumer needs it (!lark andohnson, 2000) .

'hereas according to onald et al., (#***) sometimes service quality is ust "erceived,in $hich the consumer assumes an im"ression about a service and that the services are

 udged by their brand names and advertising to mention but a fe$. +he quality issues

of automated services in the banking conte&t are becoming im"ortant because of their 

 "otential influence on attractiveness, customer retention, "rofitability, "ositive $ord-of-

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mouth, and ma&imum com"etitive advantages (outinho and Smith, 2000). ccording to

!haudhary (#***), quality service delivery by an organi/ation has the advantage of 

creating a com"any re"utation. good com"any re"utation is an asset for the com"any because every organi/ation has a re"utation for quality, be it good or bad. uality service

delivery increases market share because satisfied customers $ill buy more and recommend

the service to another consumer (Santos, 2003). %m"roved quality can lead to im"rovedmarket share and cost saving, $hich both affect "rofitability as it im"roves the

reliability, "erformance, fe$er defects and consequently lo$er costs of business

o"eration (1guyen and eblanc, #**).

+he alternative delivery channels are the biggest gro$th drivers for the banks. ccording

to eichheld and Sasser (#**0), migrating customers to alternative delivery channels

im"roves the quality and lo$ers the cost of service delivery. +he banks are gettingconsumers to use the right channels for the right transactions and interactions (1guyen

and eblanc, #**).!ustomer satisfaction is based on a recent e&"erience of the "rotective

measures that ensures a state of inviolability from hostile acts or influences (ukheree

and 1ath, 2003) . +he condition "revents unauthori/ed "ersons from having access toofficial information that is safeguarded in the interests of security. %ndividuals or actions

that encroach u"on the condition of "rotection are res"onsible for the breach of security(oloney, !hris 4., 2005).

6anna (2002) notes that, the lack of face-to-face customer7s relation through the use of information technology such as automated teller machine (+) increases the risk for 

money laundering. +here should be "rotection from hackers and fraudsters (!ronin, ary

 ]., #**8). !ustomers need to be sure that their "ass$ords are secure and that information

and transactions are ke"t confidential. 9anks should use a""ro"riate techniques tomitigate both e&ternal and internal threats to their electronic banking systems (9uchanan

and :illes, #**0). +hese include virus scanning soft$are, detection soft$are and other 

security assessment tools, all of $hich should be revie$ed "eriodically.

oloney, !hris 4. (2005) "oint out that, in order for the banks to meet the demand for 

their increasingly so"histicated customers, the banks $ill need to invest in to" of the rangecom"uter equi"ments and soft$are "rograms in order to deliver effective services. +his

$ill also be necessary if the banks are to increase their e&isting information

technology level such as automated teller machine (+) transaction levels (6anna, 2002),

$hile at the same time ensuring that the customer7s security and the confidentiality of their financial records and transactions is maintained (ukheree and 1ath, 2003) .

Customer Satisfaction  - %ncreased customer e&"ectations have created a com"etitive

climate $hereby the quality of the relationshi" bet$een the customer and bank hastaken on a greater significance in some cases than the "roduct itself (Smith, #**0). +he

strategic marketing im"lications of this change includes an intense battle for market share,

the emergence of ne$ distribution channels such as remote banking (e oubray,#**#), increases in cor"orate advertising and generic ;image building; "rogrammes,

increased "roduct "roliferation and fragmentation of markets, and a gro$ing "otential for 

niche marketing o""ortunities (

amien (#***) "oint out that, the banking industry strives to succeed by "utting the

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to"ic of ra"id and !hanging customers needs to their agenda. +his is achieved in form of 

good customer care and offering attractive services or "roducts that other com"etitors

may not offer (abholkar, #**?). +herefore, customer satisfaction is seen as a key "erformance indicator $ithin business (euter et al., 2000). %n a com"etitive market"lace

$here businesses com"ete for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key

differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy (ones andSasser, #**@). +he conce"t of customer satisfaction occu"ies a central "osition in

marketing and "ractice (!ardo/o, #*5@). Satisfaction is im"ortant to an individual

consumer (not only "ayer for "roductAservice but also a user of consumed) because itreflects a "ositive outcome from the outlay of scarce resources andAor the fulfillment of 

unmet needs (Bornell, #**2).

!ustomer satisfaction is a "erson7s feelings of "leasure or disa""ointment resulting fromcom"aring a "roduct7s "erceived "erformance or outcome in relation to his or her 

e&"ectations (:iese and !ote, 2000). !onsumer satisfaction is ty"ically defined as being

the result of an evaluative "rocess that contrasts "re-"urchase e&"ectations $ith the

 "erce"tions of "erformance during and after consum"tion e&"erience (euter et al., 2000).+he inclusion of e&"ectations suggests that "roducts fulfilling high e&"ectations are

 "redicted to generate greater consumer satisfaction than "roducts that meet lo$e&"ectations (e oubray, #**#).

Customer Loyalty elationshi" develo"ment is im"ortant hence it is not com"lete$ithout the use of technology (Cineldin, 200#). ccording to, 9lodgett, 6ill and +a&, (#**8)

loyalty is a combination of intentional re"urchase behaviour and "sychological

attachments of a customer to a "articular service "rovider.!om"any resources are

em"loyed so as to increase the loyalty of customers and other stakeholders in thee&"ectation that cor"orate obectives $ill be met or sur"assed (=a"oulas et al. 2002). +he

quality of "roduct or service leads to customer satisfaction, $hich leads to customer 

loyalty, $hich leads to "rofitability.

+he fundamental assum"tion of all the loyalty models is that kee"ing e&isting customers is

less e&"ensive than acquiring ne$ ones. Schlesinger and 6eskett (#**#) added em"loyeeloyalty to the basic customer loyalty model. +hey develo"ed the conce"ts of ;cycle of 

success; and ;cycle of failure;. %n the cycle of success, an investment in your em"loyees7

ability to "rovide su"erior service to customers can be seen as a virtuous circle.

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sensitive to "rice (ols, #**), offers "roduct or service ideas to the com"any and costs

less to serve than ne$ customers because transactions are routine. Bactors that determine

customer loyalty are relationshi" strength, "erceived alternatives and critical e"isodes(ariviere > Doel, 200?). +o build and maintain a relationshi" $ith a customer that lacks

the "hysical "resence of bank "ersonnel ;trust; must be central in ;fostering customer 

loyalty; (ukheree and 1ath, 2003). !entral to building and maintaining trust iscommunication, bi-directional communication bet$een the customer and the service

 "rovider (bank) (lad$ani, 200#).

Customer Retention  - !ustomer friendly technology such as +s, tele"hone and

internet banking as a means to deliver traditional banking services have been an im"ortant

$ay to increase retention of customers and market share in recent years (!olgate et al.,

#**5). +his shift of service delivery method has been sho$n as an ine&"ensive means toretain bank customers (Schlesinger and 6eskett, #**#). %f business enter"rises fail to

 "rovide channels $hich their customers seek and value, they $ill find it more difficult to

develo" strong relationshi"s $ith their customers (Cineldin, 2000).

ccording to, ose"h and Stone7s (2003) customer retention is the activity that the selling

organi/ation undertakes to reduce customer account defections. %t can also bedescribed as a series of actions that the selling organi/ation undertakes to reduce

defections (thanasso"oulos, 2000). etention rate is the "ercentage of the total number of 

customers $ho have re"eatedly "laced an order (or made a transaction) during a t$elvemonth "eriod measured over a number of years, com"ared to the total number of 

customers in the same "eriod (!/e"iel, #**0) .:anesh et al., (2000) observes that, long-term

customers become less costly to serve due to the bank7s greater kno$ledge of the e&isting

customer and to decrease serving costs. +hey also tend to be less sensitive to com"arativemarketing activities (!/e"iel, #**0). osing customers not only leads to o""ortunity costs

 because the reduced sales, but also to an increased need for attracting ne$ customers

$hich is five to si& times more e&"ensive than customer retention (ose"h andStoneEs, 2003).

2.* PROBLES ! LIITATIONS O" E#BANKING OPERATIONS IN GTBANK#.

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