CUSTOMER’S PERCEPTION AND SATISFACTION TOWARDS SERVICES OF PUBLIC & PRIVATE SECTOR BANKS

Indian Banking has gone tremendous changes over time and the entry of private sector banks has transformed the Indian banking both structurally and functionally. In this competitive banking environment, customer satisfaction is considered as most imperative factor for the success of banks. To attain the high level of customer satisfaction and to retain the customer base, it is important for the banks to deliver quality services to its customers. Hence, the study analyzed relative customer satisfaction levels of private and public sector banks. The issue is of importance to address the often raised concerns of differences in working and quality of services provided by public and private sector banks. A sample of 900 customers from the three northern region states viz. Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh was selected for the primary survey. Well-structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Customer perception and satisfaction was studied through various parameters viz. effectiveness, accessibility, cost, tangibles, reliability and empathy. Association between these indicators with the socio-economic variables viz. age, gender, occupation, annual income and area was studied through chi-square test. Public sector banks were more cost effective whereas, private sector did better in terms of tangibles. Private sector banks were comparatively more reliable due to proficiency in service delivery.