Improving Service Delivery in National Bank of Abu Dhabi - Case Study Example

Improving Service Delivery in National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) by Reduction Waiting Time al Affiliation) (Date) Contents The Service by National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) 5 Mobile banking 5 Armoured transportation services 6 Retail and corporate banking 6 Online banking services 6 Electronic banking 7 Remote banking 7 The Problem in NBAD: 7 NBAD Processes 9 Solution Development at NBAD 11 Study of the Strategies to Reduce Waiting Time in Other Banks 11 Recommendations 12 Technology 12 Internet 14 Personnel training 15 Customer care and service 15 The Service by National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) NBAD is of the largest and oldest banks in the United Arab Emirates. Having been founded in 1968, it has employed various strategies to help maintain its position in the Securities Exchange of Abu Dhabi (Mehdi 2006). According to the Securities Exchange, it is the number one bank in Abu Dhabi. It has accumulated a large capital base that has helped in its expansion plans. It has entered the Asian market where it has opened branches in China. The main strategy is to have a steady flow of customers. This has helped it acquire a larger share in the Arab market. It mission is to provide its customers with extraordinary services. It has done this through the creation of products and delivery of services that helps its customers to grow with it. Usually, most of its customers are from the oil industry in the desert regions of the Middle East and others from government organizations. Mobile banking It is a service offered by banks where they provide mobile banks to customers. The National Bank of Abu Dhabi should employ this service since it helps increase the number of customers and saves the customer time by taking the services to the customers. It will also have an added advantage since most of the banks have not adopted this strategy. Armoured transportation services The bank is staffed with more than 50000 workers in all its branches. The workers include bank managers, cashiers, and security guards. They work in three shifts a day to ensure that services are always delivered when needed by its customers. Cash offices have been put up to facilitate banking services to remote customers. NBAD also provides armoured vehicles to transport money and other valuable products. It has extended the services to shopping malls where it collects money made by its customers in these armoured vehicles. Retail and corporate banking The bank offers services in both the retail and corporate sectors. It also has shift offices in Abu Dhabi international Airport where it offers banking and currency exchange services. Through these actions, it is able to get more customers and offer services to travellers who visit the region. Most of the tourists in these regions come to shop and spend their money having fun in the desert sand and manmade beaches. In Abu Dhabi alone, the NBAD has more than 200 ATMs and deposit machines that provide cash deposit services. Online banking services NBAD also provides a 24-hour online banking service where customers can access their accounts and other services offered by the bank. Due to its increased capital base, the bank has expanded and has opened branches all over the world. It has branches in the U.S.A, Egypt, London, Paris, Oman, Kuwait and Hong Kong among other cities. To facilitate connection between all its branches, the bank has used the internet to provide online banking services. Electronic banking This service enables customers to access bank details electronically. Credit and debit cards may be issued to the customers to help them in their transactions Remote banking Remote banking is a process in which the customer can access his/her bank data and statements at any time anywhere as long as the device is connected to the bank. Installing state of the art technology will help provide a database that connects customers to the bank. The Problem in NBAD: Due to increased market shares, the bank has been able to attract more customers. NBAD serves a number of 5000 customers monthly and an average of 50000 customers annually. An influx of customers has seen the bank change its service delivery. The number of workers has not changed in a long period hence reducing the ratio of workers to customers. Additionally, due to the growth of Dubai and other neighbouring countries, there has been an increase in the number of potential customers joining the bank When the bank is in full operation, it customer feedbacks have had reports that there has been long waiting time by the customers. This has also led to the provision of unsatisfactory services to the customers. Reports compiled by independent firms has shown that in the past few year there has been an increase in the dissatisfaction rate which in the present year has been recorded at 70%. Waiting time in most of the banking hall has been recorded at 15 minutes per customer. The time may seem less but with a bank this big, number of customers in high. In this case, waiting time is the time that a customer takes from the time he/she enters the bank to the time that he/she is served. With the increasing global competition in the banking sector, it should employ better strategies to improve service delivery. One of the problems facing the bank is the long queues and poor services by the management. This setbacks lead to increment in the customer waiting time. In the past years customer related problems have cost the bank its profits. Additionally, due to increased competition in the banking sector, customers prefer banks where they do not spend much time during their bank transactions (Grabel, 2003). Investigation and research on customers has shown that most customers leave without being attended to by the workers. The problem has been brought up by the increased waiting time by customers. Results show that most of the customers are businessmen and women hence time means a lot to them. Any time lost in bank queues may mean a loss to their businesses. Waiting time has been the major problem in the NBAD. Overcrowding in banking halls has also become a serious problem affecting the NBAD. This is due to the increased customer base in the bank. The bank has not improved on the banking spaces where customers are to be served. In some cases, thieves and pickpockets take advantage of this overcrowding situation to steal from customers. It mostly happens when the bank is at its peak. NBAD Processes For the comprehension on the reasons behind increased waiting time in the banking halls, the NBAD has carried out researches on both customers and workers in the bank. Results show that most of the time is wasted in tellers and other customer care desks. The flows of customers who have to visit several offices at the bank have led to increased waiting time. For example, customers who need to apply for loans have to visit the credit control officers but before the loan is process, he/she has to visit the bank manager. Time wasted between these steps may seem little but substantially affects the customer. The first come first served concept is largely used in the service industry. It makes the customer feel appreciated since nobody would like to walk in first into a banking hall and later served the last. Most banks used the electronic queue management systems. They help in service delivery since a customer is issued with a number and told to have a rest at the waiting area. An electronic monitoring system is then used to call out each number if there next customer has been served. This system helps in organizing queues and reduces the number of waiting time. The above details are illustrated in the diagram below. Figure 1 NBAD service delivery procedure Increase in profits since with the use of technologically advanced devices, more customers can be served in a short period. Information is readily available making it easier to follow up on customer cases unlike in the past where data had to be retrieved manually. Serving more customers in the speculated period helps the bank to increase profits (Grabel, 2003). This means that when a bank adopts strategies to reduce time spent by customers, it is hitting two birds with one stone. The faster it is to offer services the higher the probability of making more profits. Solution Development at NBAD The bank management should come up with actions plans and strategies to help in the service delivery while reducing waiting time. The task force came up with the following solutions that should be implemented in the NBAD. To have provisions for customer service staffs who will help guide the customers. The staff should enquire the type of service that the customer wants and later direct him/her to the specific office. This will help reduce the time taken by the customer to have knowledge of the banking hall. The bank should provide updates to customers in case of any changes in the banks operation through proper communication channels. For example, if the bank installs the electronic queue system it should notify the customers in advance. It will help customers have the knowledge of what they are going to face in the banks (Crefeld, 2003). The bank should increase the number of banking halls to reduce workloads at a particular bank branch. It will help reduce the number of customers who are being served at a particular banking hall. This will reduce the waiting time. Study of the Strategies to Reduce Waiting Time in Other Banks The Bank of America is a banking and financial multinational corporation based in the United States. Ranked by assets, it is the second largest bank in the U.S. it is a holder of all bank deposits in the United States. It has a customer base of more than 50 million. Its workforce consists of about 200000 workers in the United Sates and other branches worldwide. It serves all the 50 states and has 5600 banking halls. As compared to NBAD, it has a higher number of ATMs giving a total number of 16200. In most branches, workers work in shifts of 12 hours to provide round the clock services (Oluyomi 2012). The Bank of America was chosen for the reason of comparison since from research results; it has recorded average waiting times. Recorded average waiting times are 13 minutes. It has a large customer base, which led to some of its problems in 2005 regarding waiting times. From 2005, it has employed strategies to help in reduction of customer waiting time. The bank foresees a reduction in cost and a better service delivery by the workers online. The Value Added Network has been used to relate with the internet environment since it has proved to work in large scale. Recommendations Technology The bank should adopt state of the art technology to help in its operations. This move will help it keep up with the increasing competition in the Abu Dhabi market. Since it was founded in the 1960s, the bank maintains some of the old equipment that may turn out to be slow (Crefeld, 2003). The types of electronic and technological gadgets used in the bank have a large influence on the time that a customer takes when being served at the bank. They include the communication and transport sectors. The bank has over 120 branches and 490 Automated Teller Machines across Abu Dhabi (Oluyomi 2012). To monitor all these branches, the bank needs the latest technological inventions in the banking sectors. Adoption of the latest technology will have benefits to all the members involved in bank transactions. Through technology, workers are able to provide accurate information on burdensome and time-consuming jobs such as calculations within shorter time frames. The National Bank of Abu Dhabi should provide its employees with state of the art technological and banking software to help serve customers faster. Finally, technology helps workers perform their allocated duties faster and more efficient that in the past. Banks should provide workers with the appropriate devices and software to help serve customers (Ebner 2013). According to research, the following statistics have been obtained on the rise of technology use in the banking sector. Table of technology and its effectiveness in improving service delivery. Technology 1990-2000 2000-2010 Estimated 2010-2020 PC Networks: Tellers 48% 60% 85% Automated Teller Machines 30% 57% 87% E-mail 25% 50% 79% Mobile banking 10% 60% 86% Remote banking 15% 65 80% Use of credit and debit cards 26% 45% 70% From the above table we can find that technology has increased service tremendously in the past 25 years. This has helped reduce the time used by bank customers. It shows that most banks are adopting technology a move that is advisable to the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. Internet The internet has been an asset a superhighway in the global electric marketplace through improved telecommunications (Peter & Angela 2012). The World Wide Web is the fasted growing part of the internet. Shared data can be accessed any time as long as there is an internet connection. The banking sector has used the internet to extend its service provision online. Customers can access their data from the banks website. With the click of a button, customers can save time by transacting online. Transactions range from overdrafts, online wire transfer and account balance enquiry among others. Customers can also purchase goods online using their credit and debit cards which are offered by the bank. This helps in savings costs and time since the customer does not have to visit the bank. Services have also been improved online where customer care services are provided through live chat sessions. The National Bank of Abu Dhabi should advance its skills in the use of the internet where it should beef up security Due to the advancement in technology, there has been a rise in social networks such as Face book, Twitter and Google+. They help in creating ways of social connection between people from all occupations. There has been an influx in internet usage through social networks. Most bank customers being to most of the networks which makes it easier to provide information and updates to the customers. In developed countries, there is a larger network of internet connection. United Arab Emirates is a developed country hence the larger part of its population has internet access. Personnel training Training services should be offered by member banks to their employees to help them provide satisfactory results. With the influx of technology and devices, there should be training to workers to help them work with the installed technology (Ebner, 2013). This will fasten up results and improve on the service delivery. The National Bank of Abu Dhabi after installing the suggested software should offer training grounds for the workers. This action will help them familiarize with the provided devices and software. Customer care and service The type of customer care services offered by banks also reflects to the type of service delivery offered. Customer care service and type of service delivery are mutually related. The more the number of complaints by customers means that low services are being offered. Feedback from the customers creates a database that shows the bank’s flaws. Creation of a customer’s care centre service will contribute to the improved service delivery of the bank. Customers have the freedom to be served right by their banks and in case there is a breach of contract; the cases are pushed to the customer care service (Amalendu 2012). To ensure that services are delivered correctly to the right customer and in the right manner, the customer care service should be present in all banks. It should also be connected via the internet to ensure around the clock surveillance. Finally, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi should come up with different strategies that will ensure improved service delivery and a reduction of time used by customers in the banking halls. With its adoption of technology, internet, personnel training and customer care incentives, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi may improve in service delivery and reduction of customer waiting time (Agbor 2010). References Agbor Tabi., 2010. Management and the Adoption of New Technologies in Retail Banking. Berlin: Lambert Academic Publishing. Amalendu Ghosh., 2012. Managing Risks in Commercial and Retail Banking. Ney York: John Wiley & Sons. Ebner, Tim., 2013. Services Management: Conceptualizing and Measuring Customer Perceived Service Quality. Munich: GRIN Verlag. Crefeld, Dustin., 2003. Identifying and Correcting Service Quality Problems by Applying the GAP-Model - Musterstädter Golfclub E.V. Munich: GRIN Verlag. Grabel, Ilene .,2003.International private capital flows and developing countries, in Ha-Joon Chang : Rethinking Development Economics. London: Anthem Press. Mehdi Khosrowpour., 2006. Cases on Electronic Commerce Technologies and Applications. Hershey: Idea Group Inc (IGI). 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