Joint Press Release of ABM and AIBIM – The banking industry announces Customer Satisfaction Index Survey score for 2017

May 18, 2018
Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, 17 May 2018 –The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) and the Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM), in collaboration with Bank Negara Malaysia, are pleased to announce the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Survey (the Survey) score for the banking industry 2017.
Against the backdrop of and in line with Bank Negara Malaysia’s initiatives formulated under the Financial Sector Blueprint 2011-2020 to promote and reinforce fair and responsible practices among financial services providers, the Survey was conducted to promote the quality and transparency of customer services of the banking sector.
The objective of the CSI was to assess consumers’ expectations and actual experiences in relation to the quality of banking services as compared to the minimum industry service standards set out in the Customer Service Charter (the Charter) encompassing the Four Pillars as follows:-
  • Pillar 1 – Know Your Customer, building trust through understanding the customer’s profile to anticipate the customer’s needs and preferences and offering products and services as per customer requirements.
  • Pillar 2 – Timely & Efficient Service, being reliable by delivering seamless basic/general banking services within the stipulated timeframes.
  • Pillar 3 – Transparent & Personable Service, better engagement through open and transparent dealings to be handled by competent and knowledgeable staff.
  • Pillar 4 – Banking Made Accessible, providing convenience of banking for customer’s peace of mind.

Eighteen member banks of ABM and AIBIM had jointly commissioned Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC) to conduct the Survey for the banking sector in 2017 using a newly developed Malaysian Customer Satisfaction Index (MyCSI) Framework. The eighteen banks that participated in the Survey comprised commercial and Islamic banks. They are as follows:-

  1. Affin Bank Berhad & Affin Islamic Bank Berhad
  2. Agrobank
  3. Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad & Alliance Islamic Bank Berhad
  4. AmBank (M) Berhad & AmBank Islamic Berhad
  5. Al Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation Malaysia Berhad
  6. Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad
  7. Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad
  8. Bank Rakyat
  9. CIMB Bank Berhad & CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad
  10. Citibank Berhad
  11. Hong Leong Bank Berhad & Hong Leong Islamic Bank Berhad
  12. HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad & HSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad
  13. Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) & Maybank Islamic Berhad
  14. OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad & OCBC Al-Amin Bank Berhad
  15. Public Bank Berhad & Public Islamic Bank Berhad
  16. RHB Bank Berhad & RHB Islamic Bank Berhad
  17. Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad & Standard Chartered Saadiq Berhad
  18. United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd
4,500 respondents across the 14 states in Malaysia were asked the survey questions based on the key indicators from the Charter. The Survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with specific banks’ customers who meet the criteria i.e. having at least one account (savings, current, credit card, fixed deposits or loan / financing) and/or performed at least one banking transaction in the last one month.
On a scale of 0-100, the CSI for the banking industry scored an overall of 74.3 points. The score was also a notable improvement of 4.3 points against the CSI score recorded in 2013 (70.0). Generally, a score of 75.0 points for Customer Service is considered Good, while a score of 80.0 points is the mark of an Excellent index score.
“To stay relevant to their customers, banks need to ensure that their products and services are meeting, if not exceeding, their customers’ expectations. Surveys such as this can assist the banks to create a baseline for their performance and gather insights into how their customers rate the bank’s services. We are pleased that the industry has come together to conduct this industry survey and are optimistic that it will help spur the banks towards achieving even higher service standards,” said Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, Chairman of ABM and Group President & Chief Executive Officer, Maybank.
Reinforcing the remarks of Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, Dato’ Hj. Mohd Redza Shah bin Abdul Wahid, President of AIBIM and Chief Executive Officer of Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad said, “Information on customer service satisfaction has always been the Bank’s priority. The CSI for banking industry marked a revolutionary change among the industry players where banks have agreed on a benchmark for financial institutions. Banks are thriving towards a global benchmark standard of excellence in services.”
The findings yielded insights of its strengths in Pillar 2 and 3 whereby the banking sector’s staff is generally viewed as courteous and knowledgeable and that customers are also able to complete banking transactions in a timely manner. The survey results also identified key areas for improvement such as transparency in relation to Pillar 3 which indicated customers want information and details to be shared upfront and that banks should step up efforts in enhancing the processes on the ease of signing up new/additional products and services as reflected in Pillar 4.
In summary, the Malaysian banking institutions have met the expectations required with room for improvement. In the true spirit of being customer centric, our member banks remain committed to continuously enhance the service quality and strive to deliver excellent customer service experience.
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