Kantar Releases CX+ India Retail Banking Report 2019

Mumbai : In today’s experience era, the majority of CEOs believe customer centricity is essential for driving business growth.


However, there is still a big gap between ambition and reality; while 91 per cent of retail bank CEOs in India see the need to become customer-centric, just 29 per cent of consumers believe banks offer truly customer-centric experiences, according to Kantar CX+ study.


The new CX+ study released by Kantar is the only sector-specific index that assesses banks based on a unique combination of their customer experience scores. In addition, the study identifies each bank’s Experience Gap – which quantifies the difference between their Brand Promise and the actual customer experience delivered.


The Top Ten CX+ Retail Banks in India


Ranking Brand


1 HSBC


2 Standard Chartered


3 Citi


4 Yes Bank


5 IndusInd bank


6 ICICI Bank


7 Kotak Mahindra Bank


8 HDFC Bank


9 Syndicate Bank


10 Axis bank


CX+ reflects that providing excellent customer experiences is no longer enough. In a connected environment, brands and customer experience have become synonymous. Thus the roadmap to growth is based on 5 key.

CX success factors:


Clarity of brand promise


Empowered employees


Empowered customers


Creating lasting memories


Exceptional delivery


“We live in the age of experience, but many brands are still missing themark as there’s a huge gap between brand promise and customer experience. Our study reveals that the top-ranking Retail banks in India have delivered a superior customer experience that is matched with a strong brand promise thus giving them a distinctive Experience advantage over their competition”, said Preeti Reddy, CEO-South Asia, Insights Division, Kantar.

“However, there’s a huge opportunity for growth as half of India is still unbanked and are increasingly looking up to their banks to give them more personalised experiences, smoother and more convenient digital services, and a more human approach to technology. Encouragingly, the entire industry has a unique opportunity to enhance its service for a receptive, fast-growing audience”, she added.


Other findings underline the clear benefits of delivering strong customer experience:


Banks that lead in the CX+ Index are 1.6x are more likely to be recommended than banks at the lower end of the index.
Banks that deliver an excellent experience on digital channels are 2.5x more likely to delight customers.


Customers are 3.6x more delighted when they feel appreciated by their bank.


While improved customer experience can benefit financial services companies across the board, the opportunity to grow is particularly significant among women, according to the research:


About 114m Indian women are unbanked. About half of women in India with personal bank accounts use them in a limited capacity or not at all.
Women use more online banking than men (w: 55.7 per cent, m: 49.8 per cent) and are less likely to visit branches (w: 61.6 per cent, m: 64.7 per cent).
Women are more sceptical regarding FinTechs / technology-enabled banking providers. They feel less in control of their finances with technology-enabled banking providers (w: 39 per cent, m: 44 per cent).


The Kantar CX+ study analyzed 7,280 retail banking customers in India and was conducted in 2019.