A STUDY ON EFFECTS OF SERVICE QUALITY MODELS ON DIGITAL BANKING IN PRIVATE INDIAN RETAIL BANKS

The increasing advent of technological innovations in Banking has led to a gradual decrease in quality of service standards. Post the recent amendment of Banking Ombudsmen Scheme in July 2017 by RBI which has included Electronic / Mobile Banking, there has been a considerable increase in the number of complaints received in recent years. Amongst these complaints a major component is related to deteriorating service standards of private banks. When the responses of the Banks are analyzed, their defense ranges from sensitizing the staff to having technical issues in service areas. On deeper inspection of the reality amongst the employees at the branches, several disparities were found. Due to the stiff competition in the Banking sector, there is a greater emphasis on customer acquisition segment rather than on the service segment. Most of the employees need to be out in the field during business hours and only few employees are available in the branches for proper customer servicing. It is high time now that the Banks acknowledge this widening rift between customer expectations and reality, as customers are feeling alienated from the Banks. While the sales aspect cannot be compromised, Banks need to find a balance between efficient acquisition and effective servicing by using Digital Banking and technology in an astute manner. This Paper intends to explore the implementation of important Service Quality models in conjunction with usage of digitalization which can improvise the service standards in Bank branches. An ideal model and methods is suggested by which technology can be amalgamated with service quality to so that customers genuinely feel privileged to be associated with the Bank.