Digital banking services, customer experience and financial performance in UK banks

Digital banking through telephone, internet and mobile is becoming important for banks’ service marketing, especially with the increase in digital device usage and customer demand for financial services. The changing dynamics of banking means that banks’ performance is no longer solely dependent on branch sales. Capturing and retaining customers are vital for banks, and digital banking is becoming the tool of choice; however research on how it affects customer experience and UK banks’ performance is still limited. This thesis focusses on determining the impact of digital banking services on customer experience and financial performance. The research in the thesis uses a mixed methods approach, utilising bank financial reports, interviews and questionnaires to achieve important results and contribute to knowledge in practice, and in related services, marketing and e-commerce theories. The research adopted Regression, Structural Equation Modelling and Chi-Square analyses in quantitative research, while using Content Analysis in qualitative research. The research takes a broad approach in the investigation of digital banking, customer experience and bank financial performance. It has used qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques to produce, test and triangulate results to increase robustness. The research demonstrates how digital banking enhances banks’ profitability. It found that attributes such as perceived value, convenience, functional quality, service quality and digital banking innovation are important in improving customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty, and banks’ financial performance. The insights from the three research perspectives have been integrated to develop a new Digital Banking Services, Customer Experience and Financial Performance Enhancement Framework (DiBCEFPEF). The results from the thesis have the potential to assist banks in the provision of services, and improve customer experience and financial performance, such as profitable growth and economic value-adds, through digital banking.