BCG: Online service of banks has highest customer value

Online consumers use the internet for a wide variety of reasons, ranging from business to eCommerce and social purposes. A new study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) reveals that of all purposes people use the web, personal banking by far provides them with the highest financial personal ‘value-added’. The outcome emphasizes the need for banks to have excellent online services, as any hiccup – such as downtime or inefficient online processes – is considered very important by clients and therefore has a huge impact on satisfaction.

In the study ‘Delivering Digital Satisfaction’ BCG investigated two factors. It looked at the value consumers assign to digital channels, measured by quantifying the perceived value across three categories: research, transactions and customer service. In addition the consultants estimated current satisfaction levels across the 16 sectors investigated.

The service with the highest value is by far personal banking. According to BCG’s calculations, its annual value to customers represents approximately $400 per year. Several eCommerce purposes follow, such as ‘online merchants ($222)’, ‘media retailers ($180)’ and ‘electronic retailers ($166)’. The value of for instance real estate or automotive firms is for example several times lower for online consumers.

Banks have over the past years recognized the huge value assigned to online banking services and therefore it is according to the consultants not surprising that their online services is considered the best across all industries. On average, banks and online retailers outperform other sectors, such as telecom, the hotelbranche and airlines business. BCG though does warn that banks should in the coming years continue to heavily invest in their IT and online channels in order to satisfy the increasing demands of customers.