Majority of UAE customers would readily switch their bank: report

New research by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) reveals that 76 per cent of bank customers in the UAE are willing to switch banks. Further, 70 per cent said they are actively searching for new bank offers.

The research also showed that 87 per cent of respondents would be willing to open an account with a branchless digital-only bank. BCG says this correlates with its own global benchmark, which saw more than 53 per cent of UAE banking customers increasing their mobile app usage for banking during the pandemic, and over 50 per cent who enrolled in digital banking for the first time as a result of the crisis.

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BCG’s research also showed that 63 per cent of respondents expressed that they struggle to identify any differentiation across banks and their propositions. At present, top banks in the UAE still have a stable customer base, and 50 per cent of higher-income customers have been with the same bank for five years or more.

“UAE’s banking customers’ have a strong appetite for digital banks, and we see more growth in the demand of digital products during the pandemic,” said Mohammad Khan, Partner, BCG.

“We believe that when an end-to-end digital banking solution, such as those found in Europe, is introduced, customers in the UAE will make the concerted effort to fully transition to a digitally enabled banking experience,” he added.