There has been a significant shift in banking habits over the past 18 months, and new banking products have had to be developed. There is growing evidence that there is less brand loyalty among clients. The bank offering the best service, lowest interest rate and the fastest approval time generally gets the deal.
Banks are under pressure to improve satisfaction levels to retain customer loyalty.
Leon Claasen, banking analyst at CA Ratings, says some banks have started to lose market share as a result of inadequate service levels. Stanbic has lost some ground in the vehicle finance market against strong performances by Bankfin and Wesbank. Absa, the market leader in mortgage lending, saw its share of this market decline in 1999. If one bank develops a new product, it is usually copied by competitors within months. Service has started to play an important role in determining banking market shares.