Following a 31% increase in net profits and a 10.6% gain in assets in 2022, driven by robust growth in deposits, loans, and advances, KPMG predicted that the banking sector in the UAE would stay stable in 2023. According to the UAE Banking Perspectives survey, customer service generated the most negative social media comments, with industry net sentiment improving 7% over the previous year.
The UAE’s vibrant economy and favourable business environment has attracted a significant amount of foreign investment,” said Abbas Basrai, partner and head of financial services at KPMG Lower Gulf, “with banks benefiting from large pools of capital and high net worth customers the UAE is attracting.” The bank collaborated with social media analytics firm DataEQ to examine key drivers of customer satisfaction in major UAE banks.
Based on 96,321 tweets about seven UAE banks tracked, industry net sentiment improved from last year.
The UAE banking sector achieved an industry aggregate of -7.4%, a sevenpoint improvement from the previous year’s industry aggregate of -14.4%. Customer service generated the most negative social media conversations, with the biggest pain points for customers being slow turnaround time, non-responsiveness, and staff competency issues.
The 2023 study saw downtime overtake perceptions of business conduct as the biggest risk factor, as customers complained about their inability to access online banking, malfunctioning mobile apps, and faulty ATMs.
UAE banks, particularly the larger banking institutions, are exploring the metaverse as a new channel to provide financial services to their customers and connect with the larger banking ecosystem
