FNB has been rated best digital bank in brand consultancy Human8’s SITEisfaction 2023 survey, but digital challengers TymeBank and Discovery are inching closer to dethroning it.

Human8 has ranked FNB as South Africa’s best digital bank in Belgium-headquartered Human8’s 12^th annual edition of it SITEisfaciton report.

FNB won with a score of 73.94 out of 100; Nedbank placed second with a score of 72.94; and digital-only TymeBank came third, scoring 69.76.

Human8’s SITEisfaction survey measures levels of satisfaction with digital banking across the South African consumer base. Banks are assessed on a number of metrics and then ranked in terms of customer satisfaction to identify the best digital bank, the bank with the best internet banking platform, the best mobile banking solution and so on.

The report identified trust and ease of use as the most important drivers across all banking platforms, with communication and quality of information identified as the main drivers for internet and mobile banking, respectively.

FNB and Standard Bank ranked highest in trust (88%), while Capitec took top honours in the mobile banking category. TymeBank, which placed third overall, won in the quality of information (90%) and transparent communication (90%) categories, two critically important factors for a bank that operates without physical branches.

FNB innovation

FNB is still seen by South Africans as the most innovative bank, with a top score in innovation of 83. The FirstRand subsidiary was the first to introduce internet and mobile banking solutions. The rest of the banks have had to make significant investments in IT infrastructure and staffing to catch up, but second placed Nedbank is notable because it has swung the pendulum and outgrown a reputation as a digital laggard.

“In 2016, Nedbank embarked on a R9-billion managed evolution technology strategy aimed at unlocking efficiencies by embracing digital through a complete refresh of our digital platforms. Over the years, the managed evolution journey has enabled us to refactor our core banking. The project has resulted in continued double-digit growth in all digital-related metrics,” said a Nedbank spokesman in reaction to the Human8 report.

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The severity of load shedding in the first half of the year affected the uptime of digital channels across the banking sector. Another digital-only upstart, Discovery Bank, was ranked as the top-performer (70%) in its ability to minimise the effects of load shedding on its internet and mobile banking platforms. – © 2023 NewsCentral Media