Customer satisfaction and loyalty in the United Arab Emirates banking industry

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hameedah Sayani

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the determinants of consumer loyalty in Islamic and conventional banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study has relevance and importance in a country with a dual banking system. Since the products and services offered by the banks are largely homogenous, customer loyalty is mostly associated with the quality of certain tangible and intangible dimensions of service. It is important for the banks to understand the factors that lead to higher satisfaction and subsequent loyalty among consumers in the context of the UAE. Design/methodology/approach – More than 300 respondents were surveyed to understand the factors that lead to continuing a relationship with Islamic and conventional banks. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and stepwise regression. Findings – The findings of the study indicate that Islamic banks’ customers are satisfied with the Shariah Advisory Board, convenience-related factors such as number of branches, and efficiency-related factors like handling issues on the phone. However, an inverse relationship is found between advice by the personnel and length of association with the bank. On the other hand, the importance of reputation and efficient handling of issues on the phone is highlighted with respect to conventional banks. Research limitations/implications – The study focusses only on consumers that bank either with Islamic or conventional banks and excludes those who deal with both Islamic and conventional banks simultaneously. Practical implications – The research has several managerial implications, as the findings of the study not only highlight the factors that banking consumers value the most in the UAE banking sector, but also provide insight into the factors which need immediate attention. These decisions have strategic and resource-related implications for banks. This knowledge will allow banks to align services with their long-term objectives and invest into resources and capabilities that will provide them competitive advantage. Originality/value – The study allows identification of factors that are valued the most by banking consumers in a culturally and religiously diverse country with a dual banking system.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 335-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafik Harkati ◽  
Syed Musa Alhabshi ◽  
Salina Kassim

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of economic freedom and six relevant subcomponents of it on the risk-taking behavior of banks in the Malaysian dual banking system. It also aims to make a comparative analysis between Islamic and conventional banks operating in this dual banking sector. Moreover, the study is an effort to enrich the existing literature by presenting empirical evidence on the argument that the risk-taking behavior of the two types of banks is indistinguishable given that they operate in the same regulatory environment. Design/methodology/approach Secondary data of all banks operating in the Malaysian banking sector are collected from FitchConnect database, in addition to the economic freedom index from Foundation Heritage for the period 2011–2017. Generalized least squares technique is employed to estimate the influence of economic freedom and the six relevant subcomponents of it on the risk-taking behavior of banks. Findings The level of economic freedom influenced risk-taking behavior within the banking sector as a whole, conventional and Islamic banking sectors negatively during the study period (2011–2017). Risk-taking behavior of conventional and Islamic banks is similar. However, conventional banks turn to be less influenced by economic freedom level as compared to Islamic banks. Practical implications The government and regulators may benefit from the results by rethinking and setting the best economic freedom index that better serves the stability of the banking system, and lessens banks’ risk-taking inclination. Originality/value To the present time, this paper is thought to be of a significant contribution. Given the argument that Islamic and conventional banks behave in the same way. This is one of the first attempts to address this issue in light of the influence of economic freedom and six subcomponents of it on the risk-taking behavior of banks operating in a dual banking system.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fayaz Ahmad Lone ◽  
Ulfat Rashid Bhat

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to find out the importance of the tag “Islamic” in the title of banks. This will help to determine the future strategy of Islamic banks, while expanding to the countries where Islamic banking is seen as a religious banking and not an as an alternative approach to the conventional banking. Design/methodology/approach Adopting convenience sampling, a total of 596 customers of both Islamic and conventional banks were surveyed from four regions of Saudi Arabia (Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh and Dammam) using a self-structured questionnaire on a five-point Likert scale. Findings The results concede that Islamic banks without the tag “Islamic” and conventional banks have same customer satisfaction. There are some factors other than the tag “Islamic” which are driving customers towards Islamic banking. Those factors include physical aspects of the bank, level of satisfaction with the services, dealing and attendance by the staff and safety and security of the bank. Besides, the application of fundamental principles of Islamic banking works as a key motivation for customer satisfaction with Islamic banking. Practical implications Applying the tag “Islamic” is not as important as implementing the principles of Islamic banking. Islamic banks can survive and compete well even without using the “Islamic” tag if they implement the prime principles of Islamic banking and work on improving the factors highlighted by this study. This study can prove to be helpful in the expansion of Islamic banking in the countries where religious banking is not generally preferred by customers. Originality/value This is the first study to find out the customer satisfaction in a dual banking system (comprising of conventional banks and Islamic banks that do not use the tag “Islamic”), thereby filling the existing gap in the Islamic banking literature.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Effrosyni Georgiadou ◽  
Catherine Nickerson

Purpose This paper aims to explore the online corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication by domestic and global banks operating in the United Arab Emirates. Design/methodology/approach Through a qualitative content analysis, the study examines the strategies banks use to market their CSR initiatives on their corporate websites. CSR marketing strategies are classified with reference to Kotler and Lee’s (2005) categorization. Findings The analysis indicates that overall, all CSR marketing strategies, as proposed by Kotler and Lee (2005), are used by the domestic UAE banks with the most frequently used being cause-promotion, philanthropy and socially responsible business practices. Government owned and conventional banks display patterns congruent to the communications observed in the global sample. Islamic banks have a less diversified approach relying mostly on philanthropy with only one Islamic bank using four of the six strategies. Originality/value The present study provides insight into how CSR is communicated within one of the largest industries in the fast-growing economy of the UAE. The observations reported here could help corporate communication practitioners and managers in domestic corporations that contribute to the Islamic economy to understand how to benchmark better and to communicate more effectively about their CSR.


Author(s):  
Salma Louati ◽  
Younes Boujelbene

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare the market power and the efficiency-stability of Islamic and conventional banks in the MENA zone and South East Asia during the 2005-2012 period. Design/methodology/approach – The author applied an empirical approach in two steps. First, the author estimates the Lerner indicator, which is a measure of competition. Then, this measure is regressed and other explanatory variables on the banking “stability-efficiency” are derived simultaneously from the estimation of a stability stochastic frontier. Findings – The author concludes that increased competition in the Islamic banking sector promotes the overall banking stability. Besides, whether there is a low or high competitiveness, the size of an Islamic bank is positively related to financial stability. However, large conventional banks operating in market with limited competitiveness become more involved in the risk behavior. The author concludes that capitalization has a positive effect on stability only in case of low competitiveness. Originality/value – The originality of this research lies in the application of the stochastic frontier approach (SFA) on the Z-score indicator. This methodology enables to take into account the differences between the current and the optimum stability that each bank can achieve, thus creating a new measure of financial stability called “efficiency-stability”.


Subject Structural changes in the banking sector. Significance The 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent tightening of the regulatory framework weakened banks. Now they are also facing increasing competition from technology-driven disintermediated finance alternatives. The combination is set to bring long-term structural change to the banking sector. Impacts Alternative finance can gain market share in consumer and small business lending. There are uncertainties about the extent and speed of structural change that alternative finance could achieve. These questions centre on the quality of algorithmic credit scoring, regulation and the extent of institutional participation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cengiz Erol ◽  
Hasan F. Baklaci ◽  
Berna Aydoğan ◽  
Gökçe Tunç

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to attempt to compare the performance of Islamic banks against conventional banks in Turkey. This comparison is much more distinctive and significant in Turkey when compared to other countries, as Turkey stands as a model for the world in interest-free banking system. Design/methodology/approach – The comparative performance analysis was conducted by means of logistic regression method during the period of 2001-2009. The CAMELS approach is utilized to assess the managerial and financial performance of banks. Findings – The results signify that Islamic banks operating in Turkey perform better in profitability and asset management ratios compared to conventional banks but lag in sensitivity to market risk criterion. These findings might mainly be ascribed to the fact that these banks allow lower provisional losses compared to conventional banks and have some tax advantages. Research limitations/implications – Utilizing a more recent and consistent data set, the analyses could be replicated to determine if the results are subject to any sample bias. Practical implications – These finding reveal significant implications for potential entrants into Turkish banking sector particularly for foreign investors. Social implications – The findings from this study may reinforce the awareness and confidence in participating banks in Turkey. Originality/value – Turkey is particularly interesting to conduct this analysis because Turkey is a Muslim but secular country and both Islamic and conventional banks are subject to same set of banking regulations which are based on Western traditional banking system. Furthermore, to the knowledge, there is not a comprehensive study that compares the performance of conventional and Islamic banks in a Western banking system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (44) ◽  
pp. 113-124
Author(s):  
Alvaro Edmundo Tresierra ◽  
Sergio David Reyes

Purpose This study aims to determine if the quality of national institutions and banking development condition the maturity of debt depending on the horizon of short or long term. Design/methodology/approach Analysis is performed on a sample of 116 nonfinancial companies from Peru and Brazil. The measures of quality of national institutions and banking development were obtained from World Bank data and included factorial analysis for dynamic considerations. Findings The findings, through the treatment of pointed indicators, the factor analysis and the subsequent estimation of a dynamic econometric model, called GMM-SYS, show that institutional quality fosters the maturity of long-term debt and banking development boots short-term financial relations. Research limitations/implications Evaluating different measures of the quality of national institutions and banking development is necessary to demonstrate the robustness of the results beyond the sample evaluated in Latin America. Practical implications The research allows to understand the interaction between national institutions and system banking through debt maturity, and this is useful for establishing common target between both groups. Social implications It is important for corporate finance to understand the mechanisms of the interaction between national institutions and system banking, because this affects internal decisions of firms regarding financial implications. Originality/value The treatment of measures of national institutions and banking development include dynamic considerations, and the application of this study in Latin America provides new findings regarding these kind of indexes and their interaction with firms´ features such as debt maturity.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alimshan Faizulayev ◽  
Isah Wada ◽  
Asset Sadvakasovna Kyzdarbekova ◽  
Indira Parmankulova

Purpose This study aims to examine the dynamics of banking competition between Islamic banks (IBs) and conventional banks (CBs) in emerging finance-oriented Islamic economies, also known as the QISMUT + 3 (i.e. Qatar, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Bahrein, Kuwait and Pakistan). The main aim was to conduct a comparative market power analysis between IBs and CBs in the 2006–2015 period. Design/methodology/approach The study used bank-specific and macro-economic variables available in the Orbis Bank Focus and the World Bank databases. The study applied a dynamic approach to detect endogeneity problems and unobserved heterogeneity using the two-step system GMM estimate. Findings The research shows that market power persists in both types of banks over time. It also demonstrates that capital adequacy does not explain the market power of banking in the studied countries. Unlike IBs, the scale of banking does not influence the market power CBs. Corruption undermines competition in the conventional banking system. However, because of the ideological orientation of IBs, corruption does not affect their competitiveness. IBs outperform CBs in QISMUT + 3 countries in terms of banking competitiveness. They also have higher persistency of market power in the region. Practical implications This study is a very beneficial source of information that can provide effective guidelines for efficient productivity and improved competitiveness of IBs and CBs in finance-oriented Islamic countries. Originality/value The study is the first to compare the market power of IBs and CBs in this country classification. In addition, the study examined a large number of IBs and CBs to carry out this research.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 721-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Essmat Shouman ◽  
Nahla Fawzy Abou El Ezz ◽  
Nivine Gado ◽  
Amal Mahmoud Ibrahim Goda

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure health-related quality of life (QOL) among patients with early stage cancer breast under curative treatment at department of oncology and nuclear medicine at Ain Shams University Hospitals. Identify factors affecting QOL among these patients. Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional study measured QOL among early stage female breast cancer (BC) patients and determined the main factors affecting their QOL. Three interviewer administered questionnaires were used. Findings – The physical domain mostly affected in BC patients and the functional domain least. Socio-demographic factors that significantly affected BC patients QOL scores were patient age, education, having children and family income. Specific patient characteristics include caregiver presence – a factor that affected different QOL scores. Age at diagnosis, affection in the side of the predominant hand, post-operative chemotherapy and difficulty in obtaining the medication were the disease-related factors that affected QOL scores. Originality/value – The final model predicting QOL for early stage female BC patients included age, education and difficulty in obtaining the medication as determinants for total QOL score. Carer presence was the specific patient characteristic that affected different QOL scores.


Author(s):  
Rim Ben Selma Mokni ◽  
Houssem Rachdi

Purpose – Which of the banking stream is relatively more profitable in Middle Eastern and North Africa (MENA) region? Design/methodology/approach – The empirical study covers a sample of 15 conventional and 15 Islamic banks for the period 2002-2009.The authors estimate models using the generalized method of moments in system, of Blundell and Bond (1998). They exploit an up-to-date econometric technique which takes into consideration the issue of endogeneity of regressors to evaluate the comparative profitability of Islamic and conventional banks in the MENA region. Findings – Empirical analysis results show that the determinants’ significance varies between Islamic and conventional banks. Profitability seems to be quite persistent in the MENA region reflecting a higher degree of government intervention and may signal barriers to competition. Originality/value – The main interest is to develop a comprehensive model that integrates macroeconomic, industry-specific and bank-specific determinants. The paper makes comparison of the performance between two different banking systems in the MENA region. The authors consider a variable crisis to gain additional insights into the impacts of the financial crisis on MENA banking sector.


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