Service Quality Determinants and Customer Satisfaction of Mobile Financial Services in Bangladesh

Abstract

The major focus of any service sector is the customers. Well-being or satisfaction of consumers is the fundamental objective of mobile financial service organizations. Today's consumers are educated and smart. They command satisfaction in all the services. In case of mobile financial services, it is difficult for the customer to evaluate the service before selecting the facility or experiencing services provided by the mobile financial service organizations. If the users are not satisfied, they will not use the facilities of mobile financial service organizations. Mobile financial services are crucial as they directly deal with financial activities of people and also provide the advanced financial services by integrating the traditional banking with wireless telecommunication technology to ensure quick and secured money transaction process. Therefore, it is very much necessary for the mobile financial service provider to deliver the quality services to satisfy the customers. Service quality and customer satisfaction are very important concepts that mobile financial service organizations must understand if they are to grow and remain competitive in the business environment. It is very important for companies to know how to measure these constructs from the customers' perspective so as to understand their needs and satisfy them. Service quality is considered to be very critical to any modem business because it contributes higher customer satisfaction, profitability, reduced cost, improved customer loyalty and retention. The main purpose of this study is to assess customer satisfaction and service quality using SERVQUAL model and Gap model employing a structured equation model. Other purposes include identify the important and contemporary service quality dimensions that contribute to higher satisfaction for mobile financial service users. The non-probability convenience sampling technique and survey through questionnaire have been used to collect responses. For the analysis employing covariance-based structural equation modeling, 600 of the distributed questionnaires that were completed and usable were selected. The study explores and confirms that among the nine dimensions of the extended SERVQUAL model eight dimensions (visibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, security, user interface and customization) affecting quality of mobile financial services and service recovery has no impact on customer satisfaction. The findings provided support for eight out of nine hypotheses. The results of the study indicate that customer satisfaction was substantially influenced by these factors, including visibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy.