MUMBAI: In today’s experience era, the majority of CEOs believe customer centricity is essential for driving business growth. However, there is still a big gap between ambition and reality; while 91% of retail bank CEOs in India see the need to become customer-centric, just 29% of consumers believe banks offer truly customer-centric experiences, according to Kantar CX+ study. 

The new CX+ study released by Kantar today is the only sector-specific index that assesses banks based on a unique combination of their customer experience scores. In addition, the study identifies each bank’s Experience Gap – which quantifies the difference between their Brand Promise and the actual customer experience delivered.  

The Top Ten CX+ Retail Banks in India

Ranking

Brand

1

HSBC

2

Standard Chartered

3

Citi

4

Yes Bank

5

IndusInd bank

6

ICICI Bank

7

Kotak Mahindra Bank

8

HDFC Bank

9

Syndicate Bank

10

Axis bank

CX+ reflects that providing excellent customer experiences is no longer enough. In a connected environment, brands and customer experience have become synonymous. Thus the roadmap to growth is based on 5 key CX success factors: 

Clarity of brand promise 

Empowered employees 

Empowered customers 

Creating lasting memories 

Exceptional delivery

Commenting on the launch of the findings and CX+ ranking, Preeti Reddy, CEO-South Asia, Insights Division, Kantar said: “We live in the age of experience, but many brands are still missing the mark as there’s a huge gap between brand promise and customer experience. Our study reveals that the top-ranking Retail banks in India have delivered a superior customer experience that is matched with a strong brand promise thus giving them a distinctive Experience advantage over their competition. However, there’s a huge opportunity for growth as half of India is still unbanked and are increasingly looking up to their banks to give them more personalised experiences, smoother and more convenient digital services, and a more human approach to technology. Encouragingly, the entire industry has a unique opportunity to enhance its service for a receptive, fast-growing audience.

Other findings underline the clear benefits of delivering strong customer experience:  

Banks that lead in the CX+ Index are 1.6x are more likely to be recommended than banks at the lower end of the index. 

Banks that deliver an excellent experience on digital channels are 2.5x more likely to delight customers.

Customers are 3.6x more delighted when they feel appreciated by their bank. 

While improved customer experience can benefit financial services companies across the board, the opportunity to grow is particularly significant among women, according to the research:

About 114m Indian women are unbanked. About half of women in India with personal bank accounts use them in a limited capacity or not at all.

Women use more online banking than men (w: 55,7%, m: 49,8%) and are less likely to visit branches (w: 61,6%, m: 64,7%). 

Women are more skeptical regarding FinTechs / technology-enabled banking providers. They feel less in control of their finances with technology-enabled banking providers 

(w: 39%, m: 44%).

The Kantar CX+ study analyzed 7,280 retail banking customers in India and was conducted in 2019.