Citibank ranks highest in retail banking satisfaction for second consecutive year

SINGAPORE - MediaOutReach - 28 Feb. 2019 - Trust needs to be at the core of acustomer's relationship with their bank, particularly as they look to theirbank as their trusted adviser for financial planning. It is significant that morethan half (54%) of customers do not completely trust their primary bank,according to the J.D.Power 2019 Hong Kong Retail Banking Satisfaction Study,^SM releasedtoday.

The studyfinds that four in five (83%) customers say that their bank representatives donot spend enough time identifying their specific needs before offering productsand services, with the level of trust being 69% for those whose needs wereidentified compared to 43% for those who do not experience the same. Similarly,in the age of hyper-personalisation, of those customers whose marketingcommunication is personalised, 64% trust their bank, compared to 43% who dowhen communication is not personalised.

"Banking is fundamentally an industry of trust and when customerstrust their banks, they are also more receptive to financial advice and lesslikely to switch from their primary bank to other providers, particularlyvirtual banks," said Anthony Chiam, Regional Practice Leader, GlobalBusiness Intelligence - Asia & Australia at J.D Power. "When banksconsistently fulfil their service promise, trust will be earned over time. Thistrust often becomes embedded in a customer's relationship with the bank andinfluences future financial decisions and planning."

As trustis a key driver of loyalty and advocacy, more than one-third of customers (36%)who do not completely trust their bank say that they will likely switchprovider. With the use of digital channels becoming more prevalent, thestrength of these channels is also instrumental in building customers' trust inbanks. Of customer's who are satisfied[1]with their bank's digital channels, 72% trust their bank. In comparison, only21% trust their bank when they are not satisfied with their bank's digitalchannels.

Whencustomers trust their primary bank, they are generally more satisfied (742points, on a1,000-point scale), compared with those who do not (649 points) -- demonstrating the long-term impact that gaining trust may have.

Following are some of the key findings of the study:

•  Need for improved communication onaccount features and fee structure: At least four in five customers do not fully understand thefeatures and benefits associated with their main account (80%) and theirprimary bank's fee structures (81%).

• Improve understanding of mobile banking: Although mobile app usage hasgrown by 13 percentage points (43% in 2019 vs. 30% in 2018), two-thirds of customers (65%)still do not completely understand which mobile banking products, services, orfeatures are available to them.

• Alipay is the most frequently used mobile wallet: One-third of customers who use mobile wallets indicate they use Alipay (32% in 2019 vs. 14% in 2018), following by Apple Pay (22% in 2019 vs. 19% in 2018).

Study Rankings

Citibank ranks highest for the second consecutive year in retailbanking customer satisfaction with an overall satisfaction score of 722. Citibankachieves the highest score in four of the six study factors: product offerings;account information; account activities; and fees. DBS ranks second with 714 points and Bank of East Asia ranks third with 694 points.

The 2019 HongKong Retail Banking Satisfaction Study measures customer satisfaction with theproducts and services provided by their primary financial institution. Thestudy measures overall satisfaction in six key factors: account activities (33%);account information (19%); fees (16%); facility (16%); product offerings (12%);and problem resolution (4%).

The study,now in its second year, is based on responses from 2,342 retail bankingcustomers. The study was fielded between November and December 2018.

Thestudy now also includes the Net Promoter Score® (NPS)[2],which measures customers' likelihood to recommend their bank to others on a0-10 scale.

About J.D. Power in the Asia Pacific Region

J.D. Power is a global leader inconsumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. These capabilitiesenable J.D. Power to help its clients drive customer satisfaction, growth andprofitability. Established in 1968, J.D. Power has offices serving NorthAmerica, South America, Asia Pacific and Europe.

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