Escolar Documentos
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of the Malaysian
Banking Customer
Executive Summary
Throughout Southeast Asia, financial institutions face the need to adapt in the midst of
economic changes and technological developments. The 1997 economic crisis wreaked havoc
on commercial banks operating in Malaysia: The ringgit-U.S. dollar exchange rate fell sharply
along with the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) and by 1998, the ringgit hit a low
of RM4.88 per US$1.1 To survive this economic disaster, many banks were forced to close
or merge.2 In spite of unabated economic growth after the crisis, if they wish to grow their
customer base and improve profitability Malaysian financial institutions have no choice but to
rethink their business strategies.
Digital technology is also dramatically reshaping the Southeast Asian banking climate. The
growing digital banking trend is taking hold throughout the region, as mobile and internet
channels are becoming increasingly popular among Asian banking customers. The Fintech
(financial technology) revolution which is posing significant challenges to Malaysian
financial institutions is just one example. Fintech innovations, such as e-payments, are
fundamentally changing the industry and how business gets done, putting many banks at risk.
In fact, Bank Negara recently voiced the need for regulation of Fintech, calling the revolution a
major disruptor.3
These shifts in the industry present financial leaders not only with challenges, but also
tremendous business opportunities. For example, organizations that provide an engaging
customer experience especially through digital channels can substantially increase
profitability and set themselves apart from the competition.
But navigating industry-wide and economic change is far easier said than done. The good
news is that leaders dont need to face challenges ill-equipped or uninformed. By leveraging
research-based insights into the trends shaping the future of banking such as big data
and digital technology and learning proven approaches for engaging customers, financial
leaders can improve business results and come out on top.
In the increasingly competitive Malaysian retail banking landscape, are banks doing enough to
truly engage customers? To answer this question, banks need to understand what it takes to
build true customer engagement and objectively evaluate how well theyre hitting the mark.
If a Customer
Is Extremely
Satisfied
If a Customer
Is a Promoter
If a Customer Is
Fully Engaged
Best bank
40%
43%
75%
World without
48%
50%
58%
67%
69%
75%
Continue to use
78%
71%
80%
Similar Studies
Gallup has conducted numerous studies on financial institutions around the world. For
multiple countries in Southeast Asia including Malaysia, Thailand and China our
customer engagement research is designed to help leaders better understand the wants
and needs of their unique, local customer base so they can develop informed, effective
strategies for winning their business and engaging them.
28%
FULLY ENGAGED
60%
INDIFFERENT
12%
ACTIVELY DISENGAGED
For leaders in all industries, customer expectations are higher than ever before, and they
hinge on emotions. For customers, feelings are facts: Emotions shape customer experiences,
spending and loyalty. As a result, developing and retaining a profitable customer base requires
not only satisfying customers, but also creating meaningful connections with them. Aggressive
advertising campaigns, mega sales promotions, promises of low prices and reward programs
might get customers through the door but they don't create the types of emotional
connections that drive long-term profits and loyalty.
Classic economics are simple focusing simply on what a company sells, its service and
whether customers like the product. But in todays world of behavioral economics, companies
need to take it several steps further, winning both customers hearts and minds. In other words,
to beat the competition, companies can no longer get by on merely satisfying customers; they
need to engage them.
Through decades of research with millions of consumers, Gallup has developed a deep
understanding of human behavior and the emotional connections that create full engagement
and enhance performance. Gallup defines customer engagement as the emotional connection
between ones customers and ones company. Customers form strong emotions about a
company based on their experiences with its people and those emotions strongly influence
their buying decisions.
Customers who hate a company spread negative emotions to stop others from doing business
with it. But customers who love a company its true believers say that they "can't live
without it." They shop more often, buy more, tell others about it and most importantly are
less price-sensitive.
Indifferent Customers
Indifferent customers are neutral; they dont really care about the company, and they neither
love nor hate the brand. As a result, they have no particular allegiance to it and might switch
to a different company or brand if opportunity permits or if the potential benefits outweigh the
costs of switching. Indifferent customers cost banks money: On average, indifferent banking
customers in Malaysia have a net return rate of 0%.
Compared with indifferent customers, fully engaged banking customers are more
likely to do the following within the next 12 months:
39%
33%
49%
25%
32%
28%
60%
10
40%
11
+52%
compared to
Indifferent Customers
24%
5%
Fully Engaged
Indifferent
Actively Disengaged
Extremely Likely
+54%
compared to
Indifferent Customers
36%
9%
Fully Engaged
Indifferent
Actively Disengaged
Extremely Likely
12
13
Indifferent
Fully Engaged
93%
Extremely satisfied
with two aspects
Extremely satisfied
with one aspect
11%
16%
41%
52%
61%
28%
73%
10%
The onus for this is on leaders, who need to ensure that employees at all levels of the
company are focused on and committed to the initiative. Employees also require the right
resources and training for actualizing the customer engagement strategy in all they do.
This organization-wide dedication to customer engagement is what creates an experience
that customers perceive as differentiated one that they cannot live without.
14
47%
15
0.8
16
78%
17
18
3
2.20
+1.41
Compared to
Indifferent Customers
0.79
0.30
Fully
Engaged
Indifferent
Actively
Disengaged
Level of Engagement
19
Industry Overall
(N=3,137)
Small-Medium
Bank
(N=1,385)
Large Bank
(N=1,719)
Central
(N=1,263)
Non-Central
(N=1,841)
% of Customers
who Use Digital
Banking
% of Customers
who Use
Traditional
Banking ONLY
Average Number
Channels Used
per Customer
50%
42%
2.53
42%
47%
2.72
57%
38%
2.29
56%
38%
2.83
46%
45%
2.33
Our study also revealed that human touchpoints such as branches and call centers
have the greatest impact on Malaysian banking customers engagement. While digital
channels, including internet and mobile applications, are important, they do not impact
engagement as strongly as human interactions.
These findings reaffirm the importance of delivering consistently positive human-to-human
banking experiences. They also point to a tremendous opportunity to engage customers by
connecting them to digital channels. That is, financial leaders in Malaysia need to focus on
delivering both omnichannel and optichannel (optimized) experiences, providing customers
with not only the convenience of multiple channels, but also consistently optimized
experiences across every channel.
20
21
22
25%
in the fourth year of the initiative.
23
67%
24
64%
are fully engaged.
25
4.15
4.15
4.10
4.10
4.05
4.05
4.00
4.00
Provides exceptional
customer service
Has wide variety of
financial services
and products that
I use for my daily
financial needs
3.95
3.95
3.90
Provides an excellent
value for the rates
3.90
3.85
3.85
3.80
3.80
5Low Impact7
11
13
15
High Impact
17
19
Considering the major customer indifference problem that the majority of Malaysian banks
face, this discovery is groundbreaking for financial leaders. Banking customers want to
know that their banks care about their financial futures and have their back. By investing
in each customer and prioritizing meaningful customer relationships, banks can make their
brand stand apart from the competition and enact a winning strategy for overcoming
customer indifference and low brand loyalty.
Unfortunately, though relationship-oriented drivers are of greatest importance to customer
engagement levels, Malaysian banks exhibit the lowest performance in these areas. Only
one-third (33%) of Malaysian customers strongly agree that their banks look out for their
financial well-being, and just 32% feel strongly that their banks employees help them
make better financial decisions. In general, Malaysian banks are missing the mark
scoring relatively high in the drivers that matter relatively less and scoring worryingly low in
the most impactful drivers.
26
27
28
20%
29
24%
OF MILLENNIALS
30
More than
six in 10
Malaysian millennials are indifferent
toward their primary banks.
31
100
90%
90
80%
80
70%
70
60%
60
50%
50
40%
40
30%
30
20%
20
10%
10
0%
0
25-29
30-39
40+
100%
Branch
Phone
ATM
Online
Mobile
Some financial leaders assume that the best way to engage younger customers is via
digital channels. However, while these tech-savvy customers use digital channels more
than their older counterparts do, millennials and Generation X customers use branch and
ATM channels significantly more than they use phone, online and mobile channels.
This points to the need to engage millennials and Generation X customers via humanto-human interactions providing them with something that all banking customers
crave: financial advice and support in improving their financial well-being. Like all other
generations, millennials want their banks to serve as their financial caretakers and help
them improve their financial well-being. Especially as they enter their careers and start
having families, millennials look to their banks for guidance and decision-making support.
Gallups 2016 Malaysian Banking Industry study shows that the most powerful drivers of
engagement among both millennials and Generation X customers involve their primary
banks: 1) looking out for their financial well-being, 2) helping them reach their financial
goals and 3) equipping them to make better financial decisions. Fortunately for financial
leaders, these three relationship-oriented drivers are also the strongest engagement
drivers for customers overall allowing banks to employ a targeted customer engagement
strategy that reaches a broad customer base.
32
33
10%
of companies in the world.
34
Embarking on the
Customer-Centric Journey
35
36
37
38
Additional Readings
An Asian Banks Resilience After Economic Crisis
http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/188783/asian-bank-resilience-economic-crisis.
aspx
A Grim Reminder by Bank Negara
http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2016/05/12/a-grim-reminder/
Making Banking as Easy as ABC
http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/163871/making-banking-easy-abc.aspx?g_
source=Krungsri&g_medium=search&g_campaign=tiles
Turning Crisis Into Opportunity
http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/28609/Turning-Crisis-Into-Opportunity.aspx?g_
source=Scb&g_medium=search&g_campaign=tiles
DBS Bank: A Force for Good in Asia
http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/164279/dbs-bank-force-good-asia.aspx
Methodology
Gallups 2016 Malaysia Banking Industry study was conducted using a random
sampling method.
The sample consisted of 3,137 Malaysian adults, aged from 18 to 79, who had an active
personal account with a primary bank as the primary account holder.
Time period: Oct. 28, 2015 to Jan. 30, 2016.
Survey mode: outbound phone
Sample weighted by location (metropolitan vs. provincial), representative of the Malaysian
adult population, using the latest Population Survey figures.
For results based on this sample, one can say that the maximum margin of sampling error
is +/- 1.75 percentage points, at the 95% confidence level.
39
Endnotes
Executive Summary
1 Nambiar, S. (2012). Malaysia and the Global Crisis: Impact, Response, and Rebalancing
Strategies. The Global Financial Crisis and Asia: Implications and Challenges, 218-244.
doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199660957.003.0011
2 Ratanjee, V. (2016, January 21). An Asian Bank's Resilience After Economic Crisis.
Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/188783/asian-bank-resilienceeconomic-crisis.aspx
3 Kok, C., & Jayaseelan, R. (2016, May 12). A grim reminder by Bank Negara. Retrieved
from http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2016/05/12/a-grim-reminder/
40
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