Nigerians Give Reasons for Poor Patronage of WhatsApp Banking

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Some bank customers in Nigeria have given the major reasons for the poor patronage of WhatsApp banking in the country.

A few years ago, financial institutions in the country introduced WhatsApp banking to their customers as part of efforts to deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria.

Through the popular messaging platform, banking services can be initiated and completed, eliminating the time and resources wasted to be at the banking hall for financial transactions.

However, this platform seems not to be effective and Agusto & Co, through its Consumer Digital Banking Satisfaction Index, discovered why this has occurred.

In the survey, it was observed that only one per cent of the estimated 208 million persons in Nigeria subscribed to WhatsApp banking and other virtual platforms.

Three issues were responsive for the poor patronage and they are security concerns, longer time to complete transactions and service charge for platform usage.

However, the study indicated that mobile banking application remains the most popular digital banking platform and this is because of the increasing use of mobile banking apps backed by the growing base of mobile phone users.

Nigeria has the eighth, largest telephone subscriber base in the world and is Africa’s largest telecommunications market. This position is upheld by increasing affordability of voice and data tariffs, regulatory reforms and consistent upgrade of network coverage.

Also noteworthy is the increasing affordability of smartphones that is driven by the proliferation of relatively affordable phone brands such as Gionee, Tecno and Vivo.

Furthermore, the prolonged stay-at-home order following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced a shift from legacy banking to consumers’ usage of various digital settlement systems available.

Based on the digital banking satisfaction index’s parameters, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc recorded the highest user experience score of 49.9 per cent, underpinned by comparably higher transaction success rates, ease of navigation and perceived security strength of digital banking channels.

First Bank Nigeria Limited scored the second highest at 46.7 per cent, while Fidelity Bank Plc was a close third with a user experience score of 38.8 per cent.

Transaction success rates, ease of navigation on the platforms and the quality of troubleshooting and IT support were strong ranking factors amongst respondents.

Nevertheless, no bank was rated abysmally for their platforms reflecting operators’ substantial investments in digital banking technology in the past few years.

The Agusto & Co Consumer Digital Banking Satisfaction Index, in its fourth edition, examines customers’ preferences towards digital banking platforms hosted by selected banks in Nigeria.

The Index comprises a survey and a scorecard, which ranks coverage banks based on consumer feedback. The survey respondents were a combination of banking consumers across demographics in Nigeria albeit with a focus on ‘upcountry’ sample respondents mainly located in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, and Port Harcourt.