Customer Satisfaction Comparison between Islamic and Conventional Banks: Case Study of Qatari Banks

Abstract

This paper examines customer satisfaction in Islamic banks in Qatar in comparison with their conventional counterpart. It is an attempt to investigate whether Islamic banks have overcome the obstacle of being relatively new; whether they have started providing satisfying services to their customers or whether they act as taking advantage of their customers’ needs for Islamic finance products and treat them as captive clients who resort to Islamic banks for religious reasons. The research queries needed to be answered by the bank’s customers themselves to test their view of the services they get. A comprehensive comparative questionnaire was formulated. Responses from the questionnaire and other data collected from banks’ websites, personal interviews, etc., were analyzed. The paper conducted cross-sector comparisons of Islamic and conventional banking as well as individual comparisons between banks. Analysis of these results, computing averages and comparing them at the level of each bank as well as at the sectoral level between Islamic banks and conventional banks, was conducted. Through this, the paper attempts to uncover banks’ performance and find out all areas of improvements that the Islamic and conventional banks need to work on.

Keywords: Islamic banks, Conventional banks, Customer satisfaction, Quality of services, Highest/Lowest performance

JEL Classification: G21, G29