According to Forresters Singapore Customer Experience Index (CX Index) annual study for 2024, the quality of customer experience across the banking, investment, and home and auto insurance sectors has been assessed as "merely OK". The study, which encompasses a comprehensive analysis of these industries, revealed that average industry scores have generally remained stagnant, indicating a lack of significant improvement in overall customer experience quality. The narrow range between the top and bottom CX scores suggests a lack of competitive differentiation among brands.
This year, HSBC emerged as the top performer in both the banking and investment management sectors. The investment sector was included in the Singapore CX Index for the first time this year. HSBC received the highest percentage of customers rating its customer experience quality as excellent, and also led in key metrics such as customer loyalty, satisfaction, forgiveness, and brand alignment with customer values. In the auto and home insurance categories, Singlife achieved the highest customer experience ratings, leading in customer forgiveness and brand alignment metrics as well.
The study identifies several key drivers that financial services brands must focus on to improve their customer experience. For banks, critical areas for improvement include swiftly resolving customer problems and providing user-friendly mobile banking applications. In the auto and home insurance sector, effective CX strategies revolve around easing the process of securing appointments with agents and enhancing transparency regarding policy costs.
Dane Anderson, SVP of international research and product at Forrester, commented on the findings, "Despite their continued efforts to improve customer service and invest in digital experiences, financial services brands in Singapore are still struggling to raise their CX quality and differentiate from their competitors. The silver lining is that these brands are aware that they need to prioritize their customers' needs to drive business growth. When companies invest in improving their CX quality, they receive many competitive benefits, including higher customer loyalty, retention, share of wallet, and brand devotion."
This study underscores the significance of hybrid experiences, which received higher customer ratings compared to purely digital or physical experiences. The findings emphasise the importance of integrating multiple customer interaction channels to enhance the overall customer experience.
Forrester's Singapore CX Index rankings and detailed reports are available through the Forrester Decisions portfolio of research services, which aims to help companies identify priority areas for improvement based on industry-wide trends and the impact of customer experience on loyalty. This resource is intended to assist customer experience, B2C marketing executives, and digital business strategists in their efforts to enhance customer satisfaction and differentiate their brands within the market.
While the current year has not shown significant advancements in customer experience quality across these sectors, the continued awareness and efforts by financial services brands to address and rectify these issues indicate a potential for future improvement. Investing in the right areas and focusing on customer-centric strategies remain pivotal for achieving higher customer loyalty and overall brand success.
