25.10.2023
And the Best Digital Bank of 2023 is…
User feedback from this year’s SITEisfaction® results indicate that FNB has claimed the top spot as South Africa’s Best Digital Bank, with a score of 73,94. The bank also placed first in 2020. Nedbank is only slightly behind FNB with a score of 72,09. TymeBank claims third place this year with 69,76 points.
Other headlines from the SITEisfaction® 2023 report are…
- Similar to last years, ‘trust’ and ‘ease of use’ remain the most important drivers across platforms. The most important driver for internet banking is ‘communication’, and for mobile banking ‘quality of information’.
- Site interruptions remain a market challenge due to loadshedding.
- A new observation in this year’s report is the need for empathetic banking, where banks reach users on a deeper, empathetic level and provide digital guidance and support to reach their financial goals in these turbulent economic conditions.
Important drivers of internet and mobile banking
The key reasons why South African users positively rate customer satisfaction in digital banking are trust, ease of use and communication.
FNB and Standard Bank both reach best scores from users in trust (88%). Standard Bank especially excels in establishing trust among mobile users (89%) by proactive communications about security efforts and threats, assuring users that their sensitive information is safe with Standard Bank.
FNB also receives a top score (83%) for innovation and maintains its reputation for being innovative – a consistent narrative year after year – demonstrated by a successful design revamp of their mobile application. Nedbank and Discovery Bank are secondary leaders in the innovation space.
Capitec leads in the Mobile Banking category on ease of use (92%) thanks to the simplicity of their application.
And finally, TymeBank one of the two major digital-only banks in the study, excels in the quality of the information (90%) and transparent communication (90%). A crucial differentiation point in the context of a fully digital bank without physical branches.
Site interruptions remain a market challenge
Due to loadshedding, South African banks are suffering from site interruptions. Discovery Bank is a top performer in minimising internet- and mobile banking interruptions with 70% of its users positively rating the bank on this topic. For every interruption, the bank proactively and transparently communicates with its banking users about issues and ensures their customer service is accessible.
The need for empathetic banking
The cost-of-living crisis is still high on people’s agenda and puts a lot of pressure on users, especially on younger generations. Users are challenging banks to become more empathetic and give digital guidance and support in reaching financial goals. Human8 reports 4 out of 10 South African banking users seek help in how to save money and 36% is looking for personalised banking experiences that suit their needs.
One of the banks really tapping into this need is Absa. According to the surveyed brand associations, the SITEisfaction® research shows they start to move away from being associated as ‘expensive’ and ‘a bank for the older public’, opening themselves to opportunities to attract new and younger users.
