The number of bank customers who prefer to visit bank ATMs to access cash has continued to dip as more banks move towards digitization.
According to the Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey 2021, customers who preferred the use of ATMs dropped to 9.8 per cent last year compared to 12 per cent in 2020.
The survey done by the Kenya Bankers Association(KBA) further noted that 58.4 per cent of those surveyed prefer mobile banking while those who prefer Internet/Online Banking stand at 20.3 percent.
The shift from traditional brick and mortar services to digital banking was attributed to the challenges introduced by the pandemic and its containment measures which entrenched the use of contactless banking services.
Further, the ease of use of digital banking where you can access banking services from the comfort of your home has continued to influence this shift as opposed to travelling to the ATM.
On customer support, most respondents ( 46.4 percent) preferred human-assisted services as the best channel for complaint resolution.
“The trend shows that while there is a general increase in preference for automated transactions, human contact is still largely preferred by bank clients in customer service support,” the survey noted.
The proportion of Customers with Disabilities remained largely unchanged in 2021 compared to 2020 with 3.4 per cent of respondents in 2021 indicating they had a disability compared to 3 per cent in 2020.
KBA Chief Executive Officer Habil Olaka noted that the banking industry has continued to work closely with various stakeholders to facilitate further inclusion particularly vulnerable groups such as Persons with Disabilities.
The survey also shows that most Kenyans are multi-banked, with at least 8 out of 10 bank customers (62 percent) having 2 to 3 bank accounts compared to the 2020 rate of 77 percent.
The findings attribute the decline to reduced economic activity in 2021 due to the pandemic, which triggered consolidations of funds by bank customers to reduce costs associated with maintaining many bank accounts.
The survey respondents ranked Family Bank as the best overall bank in digital experience, followed by Standard Chartered Bank and Equity Bank respectively.
Read also; Banks’ ATMs Decline to 8-Year Low as Mobile Banking Gains Pace.