Barclays Bank - Consumer Loyalty and Satisfaction due to the Use of Online Banking Services - Case Study Example

Antecedents of Consumer Satisfaction Barclays Bank Case Analysis Antecedents of Consumer Satisfaction With increasing advances in technology, the internet has become easily accessible to many people across the world and this has subsequently led many businesses to adopt the e-commerce form of business model. Casaló et al (2008) explain that the world is becoming increasingly commercialized and this is accelerating the need to have better banking systems. Online-banking has subsequently replaced traditional banking making the processes less time consuming and cheaper. For many banks, online-banking is considered as a powerful tool to gain more customers and acquire a competitive advantage. In order to keep customers satisfied and loyal, a bank needs to understand all the antecedents of customer satisfaction. The essay takes an in depth analysis of Barclays bank UK. Barclays is a multinational company having branches around the world. Due to its large number of operations, Barclays has automated its systems and has established stable online banking for its customers. Barclay’s on-line banking satisfactorily meets the needs of its customers which has enabled it to obtain a competitive advantage over its rivals. The essay will discuss the effectiveness of Barclay’s on-line banking with by critically analyzing the determinants or antecedents of customer satisfaction on online-banking (Szydlowski 2011). Online banking relies wholly on the internet hence the issue of security is a paramount factor to be considered. In addition, it involves financial and personal information that needs to be kept confidential. It is for this reason that Barclays has endeavored to incorporating tight security measures for its customer online services. It has introduced several technological innovations that provide a secure and safe banking environment. According to Joia (2003) Barclays web based customer service utilizes Secure Socket Layer technology (SSL) information and data sent across different networks is scrambled. Once the user is enabled he is able to determine if the site is secure or not by indication of a symbol on the browser. Barclays also utilizes the technology of cookies which allow the server to recognize the users once they revisit the sites. There are basically types of cookies used in Barclays. The first type of cookies are the transient cookies which recognize the user as he moves from page to page and are usually deleted on exit. The second ones are the persistent cookies which store the user’s membership information hence one does not have to remember them when logging in. They remain in the machine until they are expired or deleted. Cookies help Barclays staff to gather information concerning privacy of secure sites, temporary storage of input details, evaluation of promotional and advertising effectiveness of the sites and finally to store login information of secure sites. In case of situation where a client forgets to log out the session, the system automatically shuts itself after a period of inactivity also known as time-out. Barclays also provides online links and resources for customers on ways of guarding themselves against fraud. In addition, Barclays encourages its customers to keep their mobile software’s and computers operating systems, virus checkers, applications and virus checkers updated. They emphasize on vigilance especially when withdrawing cash from Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) (Ackrill and Hannah 2001). Information content is the fifth antecedent of online banking that affects customer satisfaction. Indeed, the amount of information found on any webpage has a major impact on customer satisfaction. A customer will be satisfied if he is able to access a wide range of information that he requires simply from one webpage that he opens. Barclays has adopted the rocket powered web design a leading web design that effectively markets the products of the website owners. This web design is ma market expert that provides Barclays customers with the necessary professional advice concerning services offered. Barclays has opened up many websites concerning their customer services. They range from the types of accounts and how to open the accounts, how to check account balances and also how to make international bills and make any other payments. Some of their WebPages have been designed specifically to serve as guidelines on how to use online banking. An example is the international telephone and online user guide which systematically gives guide to customers on ways they can use their telephones and computers for banking and for international transactions. In addition, Barclay’s websites give detailed information on savings, loans, insurance, mortgages, investment, current accounts and online statements (Liao and Cheung 2002). For instance, the website on Barclay’s loans provides all the necessary details that a customer will need to know before taking a loan such as the types of loans available, the amount of loan that can be given, monthly payments, and interest rates. The website has options where the customer can take the loans through the online service and offers other alternatives like overdrafts. Hence Barclay’s website content can be regarded as adequate enough for the satisfaction of its customers. Customer support service of online banking is a major determinant of customer satisfaction. The extent to which a company is able to gather and respond to customer queries and problems is a measure of effective customer support service and directly affects customer satisfaction. Barclay’s has devoted itself to providing high quality and standard customer service through an online banking customer helpdesk where clients can forward their complaints. This website has various phone numbers that can be used by clients to make enquiries about online banking and find out more about their products and services. There are also phone numbers which customers can use to report lost or stolen cards and make complaints about cash machines. It actually has a grievance redressed website proving a systematic mechanism of responding to grievances forwarded by customers. Customer’s queries are first dealt with at the first level when they call or email the help center. If the response is unsatisfactory they can move to the second level, then to the third and finally to the fourth level of the senior manager who mobilizes a team to look into the issue. Barclays therefore demonstrates a well structured online banking customer support service that is geared towards customer satisfaction (Liao and Cheung 2002). In Barclays Bank, ease of use is defined as the degree in which a customer believes that through the use of a given information system is of ease or that free of effort. It is considered as a main antecedent towards customer satisfaction with online due to its accumulated evidence and user acceptance in using information system. Within Barclays Bank ease of use is highly regarded as a major factor that widely influences users’ satisfaction, determinant of information and technology adoptions as well as measurement of the bank system quality. Ease of use as adapted within Barclays bank is considered to be that phenomena which supports e-banking as well as e-commerce. It is a phenomenon in that it proposes a key dimension that assists the bank to understand determinants that result to customer satisfaction as well as web quality in delivering services on online banking (Yoon 2010). Yoon (2010) maintains that, the concept of customer satisfaction largely occupies in the central position of Barclays Bank ease of use antecedent. This is because ease of use within this bank is widely assumed to have repeatedly sales positive which is usually from customers’ loyalty and feedback. The bank highly recognizes ease of use in such a manner that the online banking users use the service at no additional cost. The bank believes in ensuring that all its information systems are easy to use and understand that creating a useful and conducive environment within the user perspective. The bank understands that the success of any given information system widely depends on the level of ease of use displayed in their online banking services. For Barclays Bank, ease of use is a technological factor or antecedent in customer satisfaction with a wider focus on online banking. For Barclay Bank, it is correct to state that ease of use is an antecedent that enhances customer satisfaction within their designed online banking services (Devaraj et al 2002). Devaraj et al (2002) asserts that, in online banking transaction speed is considered to be an antecedent which is involved in customer satisfaction. Often referred as response to time, Barclays Bank has attention to transaction banking in both e-commerce and information system context due to increase in efficiency displayed in operational resources. In Barclay’s commercial websites evaluation and user satisfaction, transaction speed is needed. The bank have realize that their online banking customers tend to be sensitive on transaction speed thus the bank have put measures to ensure that transaction via e-banking is fast. This is because satisfied customers are those who get to transact fast thus time is saved for other businesses they need to attend to (Joseph 2003). The bank realizes that through making their online transaction fast they are able to beat their competitors since they are not only able to inquire on their balances, exchange and interest but also conduct a variety of transaction within a short duration of time. Barclays Bank is realizing that understanding users’ requirement is becoming a challenge as so uses transaction speed as a competitive advantage over its competitors. Joseph & Stone (2003) maintains that, through its online banking transaction speed, the bank customers become loyal to the bank as he or she is able to get value form his exchange. Proper transaction speed in Barclay’s online banking services is beneficial to both the bank and its customers. In Barclays Bank, design and usability are considered to be essential to computer-human interaction since they have great influence on users’ satisfactions and task performance while using a computer. Jun & Cai (2001) maintains that, the bank defines its usability as the extent to which their customers and their designed information systems can establish good communication without any form of understanding throughout the interface. The bank understand that having a good and well managed web sites designs enhances customer usability thus success in bank performance through their websites. To the bank, web site design plays important role in ensuring there is sustainability, retain ability and attraction creating consumer interest towards online banking. Barclays web design has a great affect on maintain and establishing user satisfaction. According to Laforet & Li (2005), online banking website that is used by Barclay Bank is designed in a manner that is reliable to its customers. Reliability here is defined as the design adapted has the ability to perform all services required by being both accurate and dependable to the concerned parties. The company has a help center in its online banking web site where it provides immediate responsiveness. These therefore indicate that, customers are able to react promptly on queries that may arise while in use of the designed websites (Jun & Cai 2001). The bank adopts a design which is perceived to be a tool which creates competitive advantage especially on Barclay’s competitors. It is evident that a well managed and designed web site highly enhances understanding in causal relationship among on Barclays online services, customer retention and customer satisfaction with great emphasis on different services offered by the bank. It is therefore correct to state that design of Barclay’s online banking web site has a positive influence on their customer satisfaction and its performance. In conclusion, it is observable that for Barclays Bank the use of online banking services is expected to grow and the bank focuses to involve its million users across the world. It is therefore important for the bank to adapt antecedents that will ensure their customers are satisfied. Customer loyalty and satisfaction can be extend by active involvement by the bank in researching on culture, experiences and gender in relation to online banking. Engagement in research will ensure that the bank gain competitive advantage which is a tool will ensures effective customer satisfaction. For Barclays bank to secure and satisfy their customers, its management needs to keep close eye on information security and content. The management should invest in information technology so as to enhance system quality which is displayed on speed and design. References Ackrill, M., and Hannah, L., 2001, Barclays: the business of banking, 1690-1996. New York: Cambridge University. Casaló, V., Flavián, C., & Guinalíu, M., 2008. The role of satisfaction and website usability in developing customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth in the ebanking services. International Journal of Bank Marketing, volume 26, issue 6, pp.399–417. Devaraj, S., Fan, M., & Kohli, R, 2002, Antecedents of B2C channel satisfaction and preference: Validating e-commerce metrics. Information Systems Research, 13(3), 316–333. Joia, L., 2003, IT-based management: challenges and solutions. Hershey: IGI Global. Joseph, M., & Stone, G, 2003, An empirical evaluation of US bank customer perceptions of the impact of technology on service delivery in the banking sector. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 31(4), 190–202. 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