The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of ICT to customer satisfaction in the banking sector in Zimbabwe using a case study of MBCA bank and covering the period June 2010 to June 2013. The study recommended MBCA bank to understand its customers through research. building a relationship with the customer and to act according to the expectations of the customers and not the bank itself.
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Poor management remuneration packages have resulted in MBCA bank losing critical staff to other players in the market. High proportion of defaults in the payment of loans by the customers poses a great risk for the MBCA bank.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
RESEACRH OBJECTIVES
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
HYPOTHESES
JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
DISSERTATION OUTLINE
The research proposal and significance of the study are also covered in the first chapter. The second chapter focuses on the literature review on the impact of ICT on customer satisfaction and what other banks in other countries have used ICT in an effort to increase customer satisfaction.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
A research conducted by Hallowell (1996), attempted to investigate the relationship between customer satisfaction, loyalty, information communication technology and profitability in a retail bank. Increasing the service quality of banks can satisfy and develop loyalty which ultimately leads to the retention of valued customers (Kumbhar, 2010). Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1 (985) pointed out that there is a very strong relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction.
Customers will be dissatisfied when perceived service quality is lower than expected (Jain and Gupta, 2004 and Kumbhar 2011). According to (Zeithaml, Berry, & Parasuraman, 1996), many studies have investigated the relationships between perceived service quality, expectations, and customer satisfaction.
IMPACT OF E-BANKING ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Davis (2003) pointed out that customers' intention to use ICT banking can be influenced by customers' attitudes towards using ICT banking. Lichtenstein and Williamson, (2006) pointed out that customers must have a positive attitude if they are to adopt ICT banks. Eriksson, (2005) found that customer attitude plays a decisive role in customer behavior in terms of accepting or rejecting technology.
Davis, (1989) agreed that customer attitudes play a central role in determining customer behavior in accepting or rejecting technology. According to Saha and Zhao (2005), customer satisfaction is defined as a combination of perceived outcome, evaluation and emotional reactions to the use and experience with a product or service. Boateng and Molla (2006) cited that customers are mainly affected by various operational constraints related to customer proximity, the need to maintain customer satisfaction and the robustness of banks' main systems are critical factors in motivating customers to use e-banking services and ultimately influence usage and thereby increase satisfaction.
IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON E-BANKING
Internet banking increased customer satisfaction, as Moutinho and Phillips (2002) found in their research that Scottish bank managers considered efficiency and improvement of customer service as two perceived benefits of Internet banking. Faster easier, and more reliable service for customers, and improvement of the bank's competitive position to be the main drivers of online banking among banking and IT managers in Kuwait (Aladwani 2001). Information technology has reduced the total overhead of the banking industry, as stated by Daniel (1999) that the banking sector has been subjected to tremendous changes due to the new technology leading to cost savings due to the reduction of paper-based labor intensive methods with various automated processes.
Nowadays, a bank customer can use internet like websites of the banks like a virtual branch, which enables one to carry out most of the activities that a customer performs in the bank premises, a customer transfers his funds transfer to others, issue demand drafts, pay their credit card and utility bills, buy mobile prepaid cards and even buy directly from his account using banking websites using internet and mobile banking services. Today, the banking sector is obliged to adopt the new innovations of the market to compete the new challenges arising from ICT-based products in the banking industry. Most of the previous studies found positive significant relationship with the technology adoption (Eriksson, Kerem & Nilsson, 2005).
ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON ADOPTION OF INTERNET
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
CHAPTER SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
RECAP OF THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
RECAP OF THE STUDY OBJECTIVES
METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK
THE RESEARCH DESIGN
The researcher often deliberately avoids formulating theories before fieldwork begins, as this could hinder his ability to understand the point of view of the subject under study. This is a general framework adopted to provide guidance for all facets of the research, from assessing the general philosophical ideas behind the research to the detailed data. A questionnaire survey was used to establish the facts on the subject within MBCA and its clients.
For this research, a pilot survey was conducted on five persons who were part of the survey population, after which the questionnaires were sent to the thesis supervisor for his analysis. Simple random sampling - It involves randomly selecting from a list of the population (known as sampling frame) the required number of units from the sample. Collecting data from only part of the population is clearly less expensive and, provided the estimates are sufficiently accurate, sampling is therefore more economical (Karlton, 2003).
DATA ANALYSIS
This simply means the researcher's subjective selection of population units based on their knowledge and predispositions. To ensure that research ethics were respected, the researcher sought approval from the senior human resource manager and the director of human resources at the organizational level and the sampled employees were given consent forms to sign agreeing to participate in the research. . Consent forms explained the objectives of the research and provided instructions on how to complete the questionnaires.
This was solved by sending the questionnaires well in advance, so that the respondents had sufficient time to view the questionnaires. The research took a lot of time and yet the researcher had other obligations at work and at home during the same period. Access to the geographically dispersed sites was not feasible, but this was resolved by e-mailing the questionnaires to the various sites and making a follow-up appointment by telephone.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
RESPONSE RATE
DEMOGRAPHICS
The analysis shows that the majority of respondents have worked at the bank for at least four years and that this has provided them with sufficient experience to understand the topic researched by the researcher and to provide meaningful and valid answers. The analysis shows that credit cards, electronic payment of invoices, mobile banking, SMS alerts and points of sale at the bank are not common. Customers pointed out that the electronic services available to them are ATMs and wire transfers.
Balachandher, (2001), argued that the success of e-banking services squarely depends on customer satisfaction with the e-products and e-services. As some of the ICT services are not utilized, customers at MBCA bank still have to visit the banking halls to access services. This then contradicts the argument of Burr (1996) who described e-banking as an electronic connection between the bank and the customer that allows the customer to carry out banking transactions electronically without visiting a brick and mortar institution .
LINK BETWEEN ICT AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
This result contradicts the views of Sergeant (2000) who pointed out that ICT services in banks result in a high responsiveness of the bank. This means that customers were not sure about the level of automation, debit cards and they were not aware of the state of the equipment. The analysis shows an average response rate of 2.37, implying that respondents recommended MBCA bank to understand its customers through research, build a customer relationship and act on customer expectations rather than the bank itself.
MBCA Bank being a service industry, has a high degree of integration and interaction in terms of contact contribution; empowerment is a useful instrument for successfully controlling individual customer relationships (Mudie and Cottam, 1993). Sharma et al, (2000) pointed out that the successful implementation of customer satisfaction is the ability of the business to develop better or more suitable products and services and this can only be known if the bank conducts many customer satisfaction surveys. One of the characteristics of successful implementation of customer satisfaction is the ability of the business to develop better or more appropriate products and services through these "touch points" (Davenport et al, 2001).
HYPOTHESES TESTING
The table above shows that there is a positive correlation of 0.192 between ICT development and reliability and trustworthiness of a service. The table shows that there is a positive correlation between ICT development and secure and efficient online banking.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
INRTODUCTION
CONCLUSIONS
It was concluded that MBCA bank has appropriate ICT in place although there is room for improvements to improve customer satisfaction. The findings also revealed that MBCA bank lacks mobile banking services, which affected customer satisfaction. MBCA bank does not offer e-billing, which allows users to do electronic invoicing from anywhere at any time.
The research found and concluded that the service response in MBCA bank is not fast enough. MBCA Bank is recommended to increase the range of ICT services for customers to benefit from its e-banking initiatives. The study recommended MBCA bank to understand its customers through research, building a relationship with customers and acting on customer expectations rather than the bank's own.
The study recommends MBCA bank to integrate technology effectively and appropriately to assist service performance. An assessment of the contribution of ICT to customer satisfaction in the banking sector in Zimbabwe using a case study of MBCA bank from June 2010 to June 2013.
HYPOTHESIS VALIDATION
RECOMMENDATIONS
AREAS OF FUTHER STUDY
While this study may have served its purpose in providing useful insights into evaluating ICT's contribution to customer satisfaction, it is felt that the scope of the study could be extended to the entire industry.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
A multistage model of customer evaluations of service quality and value, in: Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. The provision of electronic banking in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, International Journal of Bank Marketing. A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research, The Journal of Marketing, Vol.
3 MBCA bank uses well-defined new service development and innovation practices – "service research and development". 8 MBCA bank provides prompt responses to my requests and inquiries through email and other electronic means. 14 MBCA bank website (MBCAnet) starts and runs immediately 15 internet banking transactions are secure on the MBCAnet (MBCA .bank internet banking website).
