50% of Saudi consumers use non-banking channels for payment: survey

Over 50 percent (one in two) of Saudi consumers in a survey are using third-party or non-banking platforms for payments — both direct and peer-to-peer, according to a survey by Bain & Company on customer loyalty in retail banking.

In many countries, such as Hong Kong, South Korea, India and Brazil, non-bank providers have become stronger and even dominant. In digitally maturing markets, such as China, this number jumps to greater than 95 percent of survey respondents, the survey findings noted.

The survey also found as much as 47 percent of Saudi Arabian consumers would trust at least one technology company—Apple, Amazon, PayPal or Google—with their money more than banks.

According to the Bain & Company survey, traditional banks globally fail to keep up with direct banks and technology firms in five out of five areas that matter most to consumers: quality, saves time, simplifies, heirloom, or a good investment for future generations, and reduces anxiety.

The study revealed that a large majority of survey respondents in the Kingdom are willing to get banking services from an established technology company.

In the Kingdom, nearly 80 percent of survey respondents would be willing to bank with an established technology company that they already use, putting even more pressure on traditional banks to improve the customer experience, the survey findings noted.

“Despite high mobile/tablet penetration, the Kingdom has a comparatively larger share of banking interactions still happening through traditional channels; this points to significant further digitization potential of the industry” said Julien Faye, head of Bain’s EMEA Financial Services practice.

He said the majority of KSA customers, especially those in the 18-34 age range, now see major technology players as credible alternatives to banks. Banks therefore face an increased risk of their key customer interactions being taken over, he added.

Write to Sunil Kumar Singh at sunil.kumar@argaamplus.com