Marketing Research Indonesia has been measuring the quality of Indonesian banks for the last 24 years through our annual Bank Service Excellence Monitor (BSEM) study. BSEM aims to measure customer experience, create target quality and motivate banks to provide the best service they can give. MRI conducts this research using the mystery shopping method (MS) to avoid biases and subjective judgements from surveyors. Using MS, we evaluate staff attitude, appearance and the quality of their service delivery.

MRI compared 19 conventional banks as part of BSEM 2020. The first aspect assessed in the walk-in channel evaluation is the bank’s security officer. MRI measures the bank’s security officers’ performance in regards to their role in maintaining branch security and serving customers by navigating them to the correct information, forms and employees. Permata Bank won first place in the security officer category with an almost perfect performance (99.08%). Other banks can follow Permata Bank’ security officers’ way in navigating their customers towards their needs.

The next aspect is the Customer Service personnel, who spend the most time with the customer. MRI evaluates customer service’s attitude, appearance and skills in providing service to customers, such as in opening new accounts and handling customer’s requests. In BSEM 2020, Commonwealth Bank won first place in the customer service category with a 92.44% score. Commonwealth Bank’s customer service performance is aided by their opening account machine called e-Kiosk – a machine which substitutes several customer service roles in opening account and thus making the service much more efficient.

As technology continues to advance, bank customers expect that opening an account must be done quickly and easily. Banks need to utilise their technology to create a sophisticated strategy in their services in order to provide an interesting and efficient experience to their customers. One of the things that MRI evaluates in the opening account process is to what extent banks utilise technology in their services. In addition to giving a positive and unique banking experience, technology also helps banks to reduce the account opening time duration.

A rising financial trend is opening a mutual funds account (reksa dana). Banks are competing against financial technology (fintech) companies to provide an effortless process in opening and managing mutual funds accounts. MRI also evaluates bank employees’ skills in introducing mutual funds to their customers and opening the mutual funds account. Commonwealth Bank won in this category with a leading performance (98.53%). Permata Bank and BCA took the second and third place with much lower scores (72.06% and 69.12% respectively).

To evaluate teller’s skill, MRI mystery shoppers go to the branch office to deposit and withdraw money at the counter. Permata Bank won first place in the teller category with a 91.16% score. Permata Bank’s teller succeeds in giving effortless and convenient transactions, where customers do not need to fill out any transaction slips to deposit or withdraw money.

An office branch is not only evaluated by how their staff serve their customers, but also their branch convenience such as cleanliness and provided amenities (wi-fi, drinks, magazines, etc). Permata Bank won the first place in this category with 95.87% score, followed by BCA and BRI in second and third place (94.78% and 82.60% respectively). Lastly, MRI evaluated in-branch automated teller machine (ATM) facilities, including its cleanliness, convenience and capability in processing customer transactions. Seven banks achieved a perfect score: BJB, Citibank, Permata Bank, Bank Mega, Bank HSBC, Bank OCBC NISP, and Commonwealth Bank.

The winner of the BSEM 2020 in walk-in channel (overall) category is Commonwealth Bank with a 89.52% score. This is the third consecutive year where Commonwealth Bank won the BSEM award in the walk-in channel category (BSEM 2018, 2019 & 2020). Permata Bank won second place (89.37%) and BNI followed in third place (84.22%). These banks achieved their podium position by running a modern strategy in their office branches. Commonwealth Bank, Permata Bank, as well as BNI have all applied digital technology in providing efficient and effortless transaction processes. Other conventional banks could learn a thing or two from these three banks to adapt and provide the best service they could give.

In addition to developing and creating the best digital strategy for branch transactions, banks must also pay attention to their employees’ comprehension and skills in utilising the bank’s technology. This is one of the common mistakes that MRI found in office branches, that banks are too focused on developing their technology but forget to train the staff who operate it. To give an optimal performance, banks need to balance their quality of technology and personnel skill. MRI hopes that annual BSEM awards create a healthy competition in Indonesia’s banking industry, so that our banks keep thriving and give the best quality service to their customers.