Exploring competitiveness of Indian banking sector - a service quality perspective

The banking sector continues to be one of the prime drivers of economic growth. With India experiencing a cycle of growth, the Rs 81trillion (US$ 1.34 trillion)(Source:IBEF-2014)-Indian Banking is industry is poised to grow exponentially as the sector reflects the health of an economy. Banking sector faced with cut throat competition, induced by globalization and advances in technologies, has brought customer satisfaction to the center of the focus. Service Quality is one of the inflections of customer satisfaction and is critical for survival in today's competitive environment. Service quality, in fact, is dependent upon the service performance and how far it is able to satisfy customers. The present study makes an endeavour to gauge the service quality in selected Banks of India by garnering the views of the customers pertaining to their expectations and actual perception about the services being rendered to them. The study assumes a greater importance as the players chosen for the study represent both public as well as private sector.

Empirical

There exists difference in the perception and expectations of the customers as far as their evaluation of banks on various dimensions of service quality are concerned. Both Selected categories of Banks have been found to be struggling on the service quality dimensions such as promptness and customisation. The Public Bank is enjoying an edge over its private counterpart on security, accuracy and reliability aspects. The private bank, meanwhile, has got better rating on impressiveness front and Timeliness front