Zenith Bank, Fidelity Bank, lead KPMG Corporate banking ranking in Nigeria

…64% of bank customers see poor quality of service as reason to dump banks

Zenith Bank Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc have taken the front-row in delivering excellent corporate banking services within the past one year.

In its West Africa’s inaugural combined customer research – the 17th consecutive edition in Nigeria and the fourth in Ghana, KPMG examined the acceleration in digital adoption, and distinctive local nuances such as high mobile money penetration in Ghana and the growing role of FinTechs in the Nigerian banking landscape, underscoring the uniqueness and intricacies of each market’s landscape.

According to the report, Zenith Bank and First Bank maintained their strong positions, climbing to second and fourth places respectively.

Fidelity Bank emerged as the most significant mover in the corporate segment this year, ascending five places to secure the fifth position.

“Clients commended the bank for good understanding of their Generally, corporate clients acknowledged banks’ concerted efforts in meeting their needs amidst challenging economic conditions. Factors such as value for money, prompt complaint resolution, and transaction processing turnaround time continued to rank as crucial service measures highly valued by corporates,” the report explained.

Meanwhile, Citibank emerged as the number one bank in corporate banking after slipping to third place last year in the KPMG survey.

The report further revealed a rise in agency banking noting that Nigerians continue to rely on cash options, primarily driven by the popularity of bank agents across the nation.

Furthermore, the survey noted that payment via digital mediums rose by 52 percent in 2023 between January and October according to NIBSS data.

It explained that the spike in digital payments was triggered by the cash crunch occasioned by the CBN’s naira redesign policy in the first quarter of 2023.

According to the survey, 58 percent of respondents switched banks or had reasons to change to fintechs during the period. This presents a radical shift from the 15 percent who switched banks in 2022.

Also, around 13 percent of retail banking respondents now rely on fintech for their primary banking needs from the 4 percent who made the switch in 2022.

In the same vein, the survey also revealed that 64 percent of Bank customers consider poor quality of service as enough reason to dump their current banks.

According to the survey, 39 percent of Bank customers maintain their banking relationship because of the quality of service experience while 25 percent do so because of the quality of digital services.