Bank customers choose WhatsApp as preferred communication platform – 2024 PwC Banking Survey reveals

The 2024 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Banking Survey has revealed that most bank customers’ in Ghana prefer WhatsApp platform as means of communicating with their financial institution.

The survey, released on July 16, 2024 showed that “Approximately 42 percent of bank customers chose WhatsApp for everyday communication and social media”.

According to the survey, WhatsApp’s prominence over the past 15 years has made it one of the top three social network platforms, offering innovative functionalities that could allow banks to engage with customers seamlessly and execute transactions effectively.

Breakdown of the virtual channels used by bank customers

A breakdown of the figures showed that 42 percent of bank customers selected WhatsApp as their preferred everyday communication and social media channel.

A significantly smaller percentage of customers of 11.2 percent selected Facebook as their second choice for interaction.

Youtube had 8.1 percent while, LinkedIn had 7.7% percent , and Instagram 6.9 percent.

Among common social media channels, WhatsApp stands out as customers’ preferred interaction platform”, the survey said.

Customer service assessment

The report showed that bank customers valued quick in-branch service with 64 percent pushing for short wait times as being key to having a delightful banking experience.

Some of the customers also revealed that “bank branches can be intimidating due to security measures and restrictions on mobile device use”.

“When customers visit their bank branches, they want to be in and out of there fast and almost two-thirds (64 percennt) of bank customers say short in-branch wait times contribute the most in making their banking experiences delightful”.

PwC explained that the concerns has held the top spot in the two successive surveys conducted in the banking industry in Ghana.

On Employee engagement, 24 percent of all survey respondents said they expect bank staff to show genuine interest in their business and be productive in offering help.

Methodology

The PwC survey engaged bank customers from all the 23 banks in Ghana, working with the Ghana Association of Banks.

The views were collected through online questionnaire, developed using Google Forms, and was emailed to all 23 banks with a request to forward it to all their customers.

This tool was carefully designed to elicit views from bank customers on the quality of customer experience (CX) offered by their primary banks.

Further insights were gathered from bank executives’ views of CX currently availed by the industry, as well as their respective banks’ plans for sustaining – or even enhancing – CX for their customers in the future.

According to PwC, the survey responses from bank customers were highly insightful, revealing how their banks deliver experiences at various interaction points. Additionally, they offered suggestions on how banks could enhance the consistency/ predictability and quality of their services, making interactions more seamless, convenient, and enjoyable for the banking public.

This year the main focus of the survey was on Customer Experience (“CX”).

PwC tried to obtain direct feedback from bank customers on their preferences and observations of their experiences with the services they access or seek to access from their banks.

The survey provided interesting insights on changing trends, demographic preferences, and the nuances that customers seek to make their banking experience memorable.