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The UAE banking sector is expected to remain stable in 2023 after a 31% increase in net profits and 10.6% growth in assets in 2022, driven by strong growth in deposits, loans and advances, KPMG said in a report.
The UAE Banking Perspectives report also showed that industry net sentiment improved 7% from the previous year, with customer service generating the highest volume of negative social media conversations.
Abbas Basrai, partner and head of financial services, KPMG Lower Gulf, said: “The UAE’s vibrant economy and its favourable business environment has attracted a significant amount of foreign investment, with banks benefiting from large pools of capital and high net worth customers the UAE is attracting.”
The bank partnered with social media analytics company DataEQ to analyse key drivers of customer satisfaction amongst major UAE banks.
Industry net sentiment improved from last year, based on 96,321 tweets about seven UAE banks tracked. The UAE banking sector achieved an industry aggregate of -7.4%, a seven-percentage point improvement from the industry aggregate of -14.4% last year.
Customer service generated the highest volume of negative conversations on social media, with the the biggest pain points for customers being slow turnaround time, non-responsiveness, and staff competency issues.
The 2023 study saw downtime overtake perceptions of business conduct as the biggest risk factor, as customers complained about their inability to access online banking, malfunctioning mobile apps, and faulty ATMs.
UAE banks, particularly the larger banking institutions, are exploring the metaverse as a new channel to provide financial services to their customers and connect with the larger banking ecosystem, KPMG added.
(Reporting by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Seban Scaria)
