UAE residents finally have a better relationship with their banks.
That's according to a new customer satisfaction poll from Souqalmal.com, the Middle East's leading comparison website, which reveals that 27 per cent of UAE residents would now recommend their bank to friends or family.
That’s almost twice as many as in 2013 when only 15 per cent would do the same. And in 2012, only 11 per cent of those surveyed would give their bank the thumbs up.
So what’s changed? After all, bank bashing has long been a popular hobby for the average UAE resident. We all like to have a moan about how our bank lost our debit card, charged us a fee in error or didn’t act on a complaint.
Well, it seems that we have been moaning for long enough and the people that take care of our money have now decided to act on our complaints.
Plus, the UAE is a little overbanked at the moment with more than 50 banks competing for the same business, so institutions need to raise their game with better customer service and better products.
And it’s had the desired effect.
To be more specific, according to Souqalmal.com’s survey of over 6,000 residents, more than a third said customer service was the best feature of the financial institution they bank with. The availability of branches was also key, which props up the notion that the easier banks make it for customers to access their services, the happier the customer will be.
And, who came out on top in the battle of the banks?
Well, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank was named the bank most recommended by its customers, winning Souqalmal.com's People's Choice Award 2014 after 35 per cent of customers voted for the financial institution. Next in line was Emirates NBD, followed by National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) in third position, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) in fourth and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) in fifth.
However, before the banking sector kicks off its celebration party, not everyone is dancing along to Pharrell Williams' Happy song.
Twenty per cent of those polled said they could not name one good thing about their bank - with expat Westerners the most disappointed.
And while expat Arabs and Emiratis are the most likely to recommend their bank to others, they were also the least impressed with the range of financial products on offer.
It seems, there is still work to be done.
