Customer experience emerges as key battleground in Ghana’s bankin

Customer Experience Emerges as Key Battleground in Ghana’s Banking Sector

A major industry survey has revealed a significant shift in Ghana’s banking landscape, where superior customer experience is now the primary driver of competition, surpassing traditional metrics like balance sheet size.

The 2025 KPMG West Africa Banking Industry Customer Experience Survey, released today, shows a tightly contested market where customer expectations are rising rapidly across retail, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), and corporate banking segments.

In the retail banking sector, Standard Chartered Bank maintained its lead with a Customer Experience (CX) score of 82.9, credited to strong digital reliability and transaction security. It was closely followed by Zenith Bank (82.2) and Stanbic Bank (81.8), with Prudential Bank and Absa Bank rounding out the top five, illustrating the narrow margins defining the sector.

The SME banking segment highlighted both advancement and ongoing challenges. Access Bank emerged as the leader with a CX score of 82.6, just ahead of Absa Bank at 82.5. CalBank, Stanbic Bank, and Standard Chartered completed the top five. However, KPMG noted that persistent pain points for businesses include slow loan processing, complex documentation, and lengthy turnaround times.

The most notable year-on-year improvement was recorded in corporate banking. Stanbic Bank led decisively with a score of 88.8, attributed to enhanced problem resolution and relationship management. Ecobank followed in second place (84.5), with Absa Bank (83.7), Zenith Bank, and GCB Bank (tied at 82.7) also featuring strongly.

Industry analysts note that the findings signal a new era for Ghanaian banking. Digital platforms are now considered a basic requirement rather than a competitive advantage. As customer experience scores converge among top players, the next phase of competition is expected to hinge on superior speed, effective problem resolution, and deeper personalisation.

“The market is evolving to a point where customers are harder to impress,” the KPMG survey concluded. “Banks that will lead will be those mastering the details of service delivery and building genuine, responsive relationships.”