However this doesn’t mean they should simply just put up a quick banking website just to be present online. Banking websites must have appealing web designs with essential elements that capture and retain their users’ attention.

In this article I will discuss three important things web designers in Kenya should consider when developing a banking website.

1. Who Is the Banking Website Targeting as Their Customers?

It is important to understand who the target audience of the banking website is. Who they are, why they will be visiting the website and what they intend to do on the website. A majority of the consumers will visit the banking website with a specific objective.

While some will visit the banking website to find out information on a banking product others will visit to access online banking. Therefore you need to understand that every user will definitely want their area of interest to be given priority.

This can be achieved by grouping information on a banking website targeting a specific group separate from information targeting another group.

As seen in the example above taken from the Commercial Bank of Africa website, they have separated information in 3 sections: Personal Banking, Corporate Banking and Investment Banking to target the 3 types of customers who may visit their website.

2. Visual Appeal and Brand Consistency Of The Banking Website

The look and feel of a banking website is very important to the users. It needs to appeal to them and achieve a balanced look and feel of the bank’s corporate identity.

This can be achieved by having a consistent design layout, good contrast for easy readability and use of visual imagery used in other media e.g. magazines, Television, Billboard so as to give the site an instant and familiar appeal with customers.

As seen on the above example taken from NIC Bank website, the bank has worked hard to achieve visual and brand consistency by using their corporate color (blue) and using video that they have been using on their T.V commercials. This immediately gives visitors to their site an instant appeal of familiarity when they land on the site.

3. Online Banking Should Be Easy To Find and Feel Secure on a Banking Website

Some of the users visiting the banking website will do so just to access their online banking. Therefore it is important to make this as simple as possible for the users. This can be done by making the option visible and easy to find throughout the website.

As seen on the above example taken from Diamond Trust Bank, they have made it very easy for people interested in online banking by placing the Login to DTB Online Banking on the sidebar of every page making it visible and easy to find when a user is on any page.

A Banking website must also remind the online banking users of how secure the site is. This is very important especially for the less-regular web users. They should also ensure that new users find information about the service and how they can register.

As seen on the above example taken from Diamond Trust Bank, they have achieved this by having a Learn more button at the top so that new customers can find information about the online banking service. They also make a great effort of assuring and advising users of their security before login to their online bank account.

Of course there are many other factors to consider when designing a banking website but the three highlighted on this post should never be ignored by banks in Kenya to ensure they have a solid online presence.

Having identified the importance of Corporate Banking, majority of banks create specific departments to ensure that their needs are met. Given the magnitude of their transactions and their importance these companies need a designated Relationship Manager.

Corporate Banking

The relationship manager provides advisory services on for example, investments and Capital decisions. The relationship manager also tries to identify change in the corporate customers’ need the relationship manager comes up with innovative solutions to meet this corporate banking need.

Managing this Relationship is slightly different from managing an SME as the failure or success of a corporate has a great impact on the Bank. So whether these Corporate Companies have credit facilities or not, the Relationship Manager should always be in touch with the following areas of the company

Corporate banking- Governance of the Company

This includes the members of the Board of Directors, the Board of Management and the management structures in place. The shareholding structure of the company and the bank also investigate the integrity of the team and what impact the corporate would have on the reputation of the company. The quality of governance is very critical as it can help determine the future of the company.

Corporate banking -Recovery Management

This is key to the stability of the business and it is important to establish in general if the corporate has a policy on the recovery from any unforeseen factors that would greatly affect the business. In other words the disaster recovery plan or the business continuity plan is very important and must be disclosed to the bank.

Corporate banking-Technology

This affects database management, establishing whether a company is up to date in technology, which is changing rapidly. Updated technology greatly ensures good database management, resulting and leading to accurate reporting, increasing transparency and accountability. Technology may also be used to reflect the financial health of a corporate.

Corporate Banking-Risk Management

Establish whether the corporate has identified the risks that could greatly affect their business. Confirm the measures that have been put in place to manage the risk. These measures must be well documented. The corporate should have unit monitoring for the ever increasing risks.

Corporate Banking -Management of Manpower

Establish whether the corporate optimizes manpower resources in terms of numbers, knowledge and even skill. This in turn maximizes productivity, improves quality of operations.

Given the current economic crises that has greatly affected many corporate companies, it would be prudent for the banking industry to keep in touch with their corporate customers operation  by providing relevant corporate banking solutions.

After rushing into the banking hall in the nick of time, the customer service agent in the bank looked at the time on her computer and it was pretty obvious she thought i was late. This made me want to apologize for such a mad dash into her territory. I though she should have been happy for a customer since there was no other customer in the banking hall.

customer service in the bank

I was the one who talked to her first, since she had not acknowledged me by saying hello or good afternoon. After I told her what had brought me to the bank and the types of bank accounts I wanted to acquire from her, she told me that I could fill out forms but I would only get my products and accounts on Monday since they had run out. This was alright, but I would expect that she would try to sell me another product after finding out why I was interested in the product I was looking for. She could also have sent me to the banks’ other branches for the same product.

The customer service in the bank was lacking since I left the bank with only what I asked for, nothing was offered voluntarily. The bank officer did not apologise for not having the products.

Below are 4 basic “musts” for customer service in the bank to attract and retain customers.

Customer service in the bank –smile

The receptionist or front desk officer should smile and welcome all who come into the branch with an appropriate greeting. The greeting and smile should not be for those who look like they have money but for all who come into her domain. a smile is very simple and easy to give, but it is very important to customers.

Customer service in the bank –  listen attentively

The service agent or bank officer should listen to my request or needs to determine what best suits me. The service agent can persuade a potential customer to get more than one product whne they have the product in place. The potential customer may be after information and advice and when this is given before even opening an account, then the customer feels more satisfaction. They do not have to come later to the bank to sign up for another product when they could have finished at ones

Customer service in the bank – available products

The bank should have a well organised stock control and replenishing system so that they do not run out stationery, cards and currency denominations. It is very frustrating to get to the teller who advices you they can only pay in denominations you did not want. Have enough of all currency or advice customer to give you a few minutes as you get the denominations. Sometimes the stationery , like deposit slips run out and one is forced to move from place to place looking for the forms. They are informed the forms are not currently available after wasting time in the banking hall.

Customer service in the bank – Man the service desk

The service officer desks are in many banks out in the banking hall. It is very vexing when the service officer is never seated at their desk or has to keep moving to the back office. Sometimes the service officer also answers queires on their desk so they are not able to attend to customers who are face to face with her. The banks should have the phones received by others so that the customers in the banking hall may be served.

Many of us have many bad things we can say about our banks’ customer service.we should also acknowledge when the banks go out of their way to ensure we are well served and taken care off. Many banks have customer service as a deliverable for their staff and the banks must ensure customer service in the bank is felt by the customers.

credit scoring in Kenya

There are two main ways that credit rating in Kenya is done. These are individual judgement method and credit scoring or rating method

Individual or staff judgement method of credit rating in Kenya

This method relies on the staff who is rating the application for the loan on to uses their good judgement. Credit rating staffs are aided in arriving at their decision by a list with checks and balances. The pros are weighted against the cons on the check list and the staffs make decisions. The staffs also consider the risks of having the applicant as a customer of their institution. The staff may compare an application against another application of the same category to assist him or her arrive at a decision.

Credit rating in Kenya method

This method does not rely a lot on the staff judgement as it is a statistical method. The applicant submits their application to the financial institution for review. The credit rating staffs use manual or automated systems which score the application. The rating form is something that is agreed in the financial institution and risk unit has to be involved. The banks try to address as many risk issues as they can in the rating sheet.

The applicant is rated on where they work, their marital status, their age, whether they own the home where they live and salary they earn. These rating criterion are dependent on the financial institution. There are many more criteria on which to base credit rating in Kenya. After the staffs have completed inputting the information from the application form to the rating sheet form, a rate is given. The rating method has less individual errors and biases. There is also increased and enhanced precision in credit rating.

The method is sometimes thought to be rigid. To overcome this problem, the credit rating staffs have over-ride rights to the rating system and the decision can be over-ruled. This over ride has to be approved by a supervisor.

The importance of credit rating and scoring of each application that is received in a bank cannot be ignored. In some countries, there are companies that do the credit rating and one can pay to get their rating for credit cards or loans.  Credit scoring and Credit rating in Kenya is still developing and the score sheets keep changing.