THE EVALUATION OF
CUSTOMER SERVICES IN BANKING INDUSTRY
(A
CASE STUDY OF FIRST BANK NIGERIA PLC)‘
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Forms of banking have been in existence about 500 BC. The early bankers
(the jews) lombandy in Italy
transacted their business in the benches in the market place. The word.” Bank”
It self is derived from Italian word “BANCO” which means “Bench” when a banker
failed them this bench was broken up by the angry people (i.e depositors) hence
the word “BANKRUPTCY” was derived from the “BANKCORRUPTION” which means broken bench.
This types of banking into not begin until the sixteenth century. Italian
goldsmiths working in London
began to expand their business activities to include safe keeping of valuables
and money, when such valuables are represented and thus began to change hand in
place of many and valuables. And become our present day bank notes.
The goldsmith with an age for profit were quick to realize that some of
the money deposited with than could safely be bend out and realize interest.
The practice was to be rewarding and many establishment tried to take
advantages of this way to make easy profit.
Unfortunately due to bad management there were unconditional leading
which led to the collapse of the business. In an attempt to alleviate. This undesirable
situation the British government established the bank of England in 1694 and gave it the
sole right to issue banknote. Being the first bank of England it soon brought
about either the closure of the main banking system contained throughout the
centuries, until when there are only major banks in England and all able to trace
their origin back to the 16th and 17th centuries.
1.1 BACKGROUND
TO THE STUDY
Banking business all over the world is all about providing various
services to customers. These services range from accepting deposits from
customers, payment of cheques on their behalf, issuing of advances and loans to
them. All these are aimed at customers patronage where there is effective and
efficient services provided by the bank.
Customers service is any activity that is aimed at pleasing or
satisfying a client or customers to encourage more and more patronage.
Banks are not left out of these, this is because the existence is
dependent on how much satisfaction they were able to give their customers.
However customers service in the banking industry for sometime now has
been at a high deteriorating level. Bankers no longer recognize the importance
of customers satisfaction to the growth of their business.
They keep them than necessary on the grave, give them embarrassment by
treating them harshly and even in some cases, there is unusually harassment
from the banks security men. The security men are in the habit of harassing their
customers in the area of parking of cars, perhaps, because some of them are
illiterates, they do not know that a customer is considered a king and a king
can do no wrong.
Also, the area of maintaining absolute secrecy concerning all issues
relating to customer’s account and other transaction affairs is also lacking in
banks.
This is making customers to lose confidence in their bank. A bank that
enjoys large patronage of customers is likely to have a higher profit compared
to the one with lower patronage.
In this research work, the researcher shall examine those areas that the
banks are lacking in terms of providing efficient and effective services to
customer the relationship between customer and the bankers, their right as
customers and provide recommendation on how banks especially First Bank of
Nigeria Plc can improve on it’s customers services relationship.
1.2 STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEMS
Banking business is able about providing various services to customer.
These services range from acceptance of deposited, payment of cheques. And soon
on behalf of the customers, issuing of advice and loan to customers but this
services have not be an effective due to the following reasons:-
a. Insufficient
manpower:- This problem of lack of competent employee has led to the slow
performance of their services to customers.
b. Lack of
proper incentives from banks to their employee: Incentives have a long way to
go in motivating the employee for put in more of their best in performing their
duties. The move on individual is encourage the better he can per. In carrying
out his responsibility. But most of our banking sectors today find it very
difficult to respond to this aspect of their employer which has course a lot of
setback in their services to customers.
c. Unqualified
officer/employees:- One of the major challenges we are facing in our banking
industries today is the problem of unqualified employee that are not competent
in discharging their duties that has lead to serious delay when attending to
customers in their day to day activities in the banking sectors. Which make
customer querying unnecessary before being attended to.
d. Lack of
infrastructural facility e.g power which has led to network failure most a
times, this problem have of course fluctuation in the services rendered by
banks to their customer over the years, unstable power supply is one of the
major challenges that have hamper the effective services banks could have
provided to their customers.
e. High
interest charges:- Most customers find it very difficult to request for loans
from our banks because of the level of interest they may be charged which has
led to slow saving and investment which to some extent has affected the growth
of the economy of our nation Nigeria.
1.3 OBJECTIVE
OF THE STUDY
The objectives of this study could be summarized as follows:
a. To ascertain
the quality of the service rendered by banks to their customers.
b. to
evaluate the inability of the banks employee to provide effective and efficient
customers services.
c. In
order to know the customers Responses as regards whether they are satisfied with the services rendered
to them or not.
d. to also
know possible areas in which banks can improved the quality of their services
to customers.
e. To also
evaluate areas in which they have not been able to deliver satisfactory
services to their customers
f. Analyzing
the customers needs and want from the marketing point of view as seeing the
customers as kings and the reason for their existence as banks.
1.4 RESEARCH
HYPOTHESIS
Generally speaking , lot and lots of problems have been encountered
daily by customers. It has been found that there are always long queue, rudeness
and aggressive noise in the banking hall indicating the state of satisfactory
services rendered by bank.
Since study/observations, generally, this statement being tentative
stands the chance of being accepted out rightly or rejected. For the purpose of
achieving the objectives of this research work, the following hypothesis will
be tested. Hypothesis is a tentative statement about problem.
Ho: Effective customer relationship does not enhance
the performance of banks.
Hi: Effective customers relationship enhances the
performance of banks.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is tailored towards evaluating customer services in our
banking sectors which over the years has not be efficient enough as expected from
customers. Since patterned towards enhancing the effectiveness of customers
services in banking sector.
This study will be of immense benefit to undergraduate and other
shareholders in banking industry who are eager to know how customers services
can be performed effectively without any unnecessary delay or waste of time in
the bank. It is also conducted to look for possible means or ways in which
banks can give their customer full confidence to go into business with the bank
without any fear in poor services delivering which has been the experience of
the past.
At the end of the study we intend to probe out problems in the past,
causes of those problems and also to provide recommendation that will be of
great help to our banking industry in rendering services to their customers.
1.6 SCOPE OF
THE STUDY
The case study of this research work is registered to first Bank of
Nigeria Plc, Yakubu Gowon Way,
Kaduna.
The purpose of this work is to evaluate customers services in the
banking industry over the years which has not yet been able to meet the demands
and satisfaction of customers over the years.
a. To find
out reasons for banks failure in customers satisfaction.
b. to
evaluate areas or differences in banking sectors that has contributed to poor
service delivery to customers.
c. To
analyzes ways in which urgent attention is needed to improve in order to
provide quality services to their customer.
1.7 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF
FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC
First Bank of Nigeria Plc, for over a century has distinguished itself,
a leading banking institution and a major contributor to the economic
advancement and development of Nigeria
economy.
Found in 1894 by a shipping magnet from Liverpool sir Alre jones the
bank commenced as a small operation in the office of elder Dumpster and co in Lagos. It was incorporate
as a limited company in march 1984, with the head office in Liverpool.
It started business under the corporate name of Bank for British West Africa
(BBWA) with a paid up share capital of 12000 pound starting after absorbing. It
predecessors, the Africa Banking corporation.
In the early of its operations, the bank recorded an impressive growth
and worked closely with the colonial government in performing the traditional
function of a central Bank to justify it’s West African coverage a branch was
opened in Accra Gold coast (now Ghana) in 1896 another in freedom, sierra Leone
in 1898 that marked the genesis of the bank international banking operation.
The branch of the bank was opened in old Calabar in 1900 and two years later
services were extended to northern Nigeria. To satisfy the needs of
its customers, first bank has diversified into a wide range of banking
strategies which includes corporate and retal banking relationship. Trusteeship
and insurance brokerage. To reposition and to take advantage of opportunities
in the changing environment, the bank embarked on several restructuring
initiatives in 1957 it changed it’s name from Bank of British West Africa in
1969, the bank was incorporated locally as stand Bank of Nigeria limited in
line with the companies Degree of 1968 changes in the name of bank occurred in
1979 and 1991 to First Bank of Nigeria Plc respectively. In 1985, the Bank
introduced a decentralized structure with fire regional administrations. This
was reconfigured in 1992 to enhance the banks operational efficiency. In 1996,
the bank introduced the FBN century 11 project to revolutionize it’s operation
in line with the dynamics of the environment. In addition as a part of its
strategy of progressive internationalization in November 2002, the bank become
the first financial institution in Nigeria
to established a subsidiary bank in the United Kingdom.
To demonstrate it’s commitment to it’s customers and the development of
Nigerian economy. The bank has since broadened it’s loan and credit portfolios
to various sectors of the economy. The bank has improved tremendously judging
from a number of a parameters including number of branches, growth and deposit
base assertive and size of loans and advances reliability. Sound banking
practices has continually placed the bank in its leadership position. In line
with its mission statement to remain true to its name providing the best
financial services possible”. The bank will consistently transform itself as it
forges ahead in its second century of qualitative banking services to the
customers and nation in entirely.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Current account:
Account in a bank form which the customer can drawn money whenever he
wants with the use of cheques book or ATM card. It does not attract interest
rather customer pay commission on turnover. Savings account.
Saving account:
This account is to encourage lower income earner to inculcate the
savings habit. It is now withdrawal by third party. It attracts interest
passbook is used for withdrawal.
Banker:
A person in an important position in the bank. He is a financial doctor
that stand as intermediary between the deficit and surplus sector of the
economy.
Customer:
Is a person or corporate body that has some sort of account wit the bank
be it current, saving or deposit.
Bailee
Person (bank) who received property with the bank for a period of time.
Bailor:
Person (customers) who keeps property with the bank for a period of time
Bankruptcy:
(Person) who has been declare by a court not to be capable of paying his
debt and who’s his affairs is in the hand.
Call over:
This is a means of checking the accuracy of item entered in various
account by calling from the voucher to the entry by two person other them the
ledger keeper.
Clearing:
This process of collecting proceeds of cheques by presenting to the
drawee banker branch of cheques drawn on them which are received by the bank
clearing the days business this presentation is normally in the clearing house
at the central bank.
Collection Banker:
A banker who received cheques
drawn on other banks or branches and collects the proceeds for credit of the
customer account.
Advance:
This is overdrafts of loan granted to customer the department dealing
with the lending of money is called the advance department.
Collateral: These are assets, good and property of all kinds of an
individual given as a seeming for a loan to be given.
Bearer:
The person in possession of a bill of cheques payable to him.
Cross cheques:
These are two parallel trans verse lines across the face of a cheques to
ensure safe transmission of the money from sender to received
Drawer:
It is a person who signs a cheques or bill of exchanges.
Drawee:
This is a bank on which a cheques
is drawn on the person to whom a bill of exchange is addressed.
Dormant Account:
Is an account that has not been
operated for some time normally a year.
Treasury:
It is a safe or strong room where cash and valuable of a bank are kept.
Proof:
This is a record kept daily of all transaction passed over any account
and also means of checking the accuracy of figures.