The UAE Banks Federation is working on guidelines to help lenders deal with complaints in a unified manner, according to Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, the organisation’s head.
The announcement, which came with few hints as to the form the guide will take, comes at a time when banks have fallen behind in measures of customer satisfaction.
“Banks have no choice but to improve customer service,” Mr Al Ghurair told reporters on the sidelines of a UAE Banks Federation conference in Abu Dhabi today.
“In the past we thought that customer service was depositing and withdrawing cash from branches, but now customers are asking for and expect better services and they want such services on their terms, to be delivered in the way of their choosing. First we had customer service in branches, then we had in call centres and then to online and then mobile banking.”
Lenders in the UAE have been upping their games in making more services digital. But despite this many customers still complain that simple tasks such as changing an address can lead to much hair-pulling.
In its 2015 World Retail Banking report, consultants Capgemini said a steep drop in rankings of the UAE made the Middle East register the biggest regional drop. The UAE Customer Experience Index fell by 8.3 points to 64.7 last year from its 2013 score, leaving it behind Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
In its 2016 report, Capgemini said UAE rankings were more or less unchanged from 2015.
mkassem@thenational.ae
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