Despite Economic Headwinds, Malaysian Banks Continue to Improve CX Quality

How customers perceive a brand influences how much they are willing to spend with the brand; whether they will recommend it to others, and; how likely they are to forgive the brand’s missteps. Our annual CX Index benchmarking study conducted in Malaysia since 2021 answers the question, “Which banks in Malaysia provide the best customer experience (CX)?” Throughout the past 3 years, we’ve observed a steady improvement in CX quality among the country’s biggest banks. In 2023, we surveyed 1,800 retail banking customers in Malaysia to determine how they perceive their experiences and how CX drives their loyalty. Here are some highlights from our report:

• CX quality among all banks we surveyed has slightly improved. Over the last 12 months, the overall quality of banking experiences in Malaysia, judging by the industry average CX score, has improved from 65.7 to 68.7 on our 100-point scale. In fact, all of the banks we surveyed in both 2022 and 2023 posted higher CX scores in this year’s CX Index.
• However, the overall differentiation in CX remained miniscule. During our analysis we determine whether the brands’ individual CX Index scores are far apart or closely clustered. In 2023, the CX scores for all banks were concentrated within a range of 4.8 points which is even more concentrated than in 2022 (7.1 points). The lack of standouts suggests that Malaysian banks still aren’t very differentiated and competitive in terms of CX, which warrants a CX strategy refresh.
• Maybank reclaimed the top spot in the Malaysia Banking CX Index. Maybank regained the lead in this year’s CX Index rankings after bettering its 2022 score by a modest 2.3 points. With a CX Index score of 70.8, Maybank is the only multichannel bank in Malaysia to attain a CX Index score in the good category.
• Customers want better quality from customer service and branches. Based on our data we are able to rank various attributes of CX quality based on their individual impact. In this year’s CX Index, banking customers prioritized 3 areas above all others: banking services, customer service, and branches. What that means is that Malaysian banks need to improve in their fundamentals and pay closer attention to where and how customers prefer to be served.
• Positive emotions have the greatest power over customer loyalty. Emotions triggered by positive experiences stimulate loyalty. In Malaysia, the five positive emotions with the most impact on loyalty were feeling happy, respected, valued, appreciated, and confident. Our data shows why positive emotions matter to top-line growth. Among Malaysian banking customers who felt happy and respected, 89% and 86%, respectively, will remain as a customer; 83% and 80% will pay for additional products; and 83% and 81% will advocate for the brand.
• Hybrid CX gets higher ratings than either physical or digital CX. Given a choice of digital-only, physical-only, or hybrid experiences, i.e. interchangeably using physical and digital channels, Malaysian customers gave the highest CX ratings to hybrid. The difference in CX scores is significant: Customers rated hybrid CX 5.6 points higher than digital-only and 4.5 points higher than physical-only experiences.

To learn more about the Malaysia CX Index™, 2023, read the full version of our report (available to Forrester clients).