GTB, Firstbank emerge Nigeria’s best digital banks of 2020

Guaranty Trust Bank and First Bank of Nigeria are the Best Digital Bank in Nigeria with a user experience score of 74.2 and 72.3 points, respectively. According to the 2020 Consumer Digital Banking Satisfaction Index by a credit rating agency, Agusto & Co, Access Bank was the third on the list of best Nigerian best of this year.

While Zenith Bank was the highestranked bank in the 2019 edition, with a score of 74.2, the lender dropped to the 4th position this year (a score of 70.9) due to lower ratings in transaction success rates and troubleshooting & IT support.

“Gtbank’s top position was underpinned by comparably higher transaction success rates, is most crucial in the current ‘COVIDera’,” research analysts at the rating agency said.

According to the report, the Bank’s position was also upheld by the significant level of awareness of its digital banking services compared to the other nine banks in the survey sample. The 10 banks sampled in the report are the top commercial lenders based on total assets and contingents as of 31 December 2019.

“We believe findings from this Index will provide good insights and suggestions to enhance the customer experience. Generally, we believe that there is a need for more dedicated investments in customer service and relationship management to support growing traffic across digital banking channels,” Senior Analyst, Financial Institutions Ratings at Agusto &Co, Mariam Dabiri said.

The report by Agusto & Co revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has driven an increase in the use of digital channels and created an opportunity to grow transaction income across the various platforms.

In addition to benefits to commercial banks, the report revealed that the pandemic also provided digital banks with an avenue for growth. The survey also indicates that only 46 percent of the survey respondents are aware of digital banks.