Digital innovation continues to reshape how Ghanaians interact with financial services as digital channels have become the preferred touchpoints for many customers.
Insights from the KPMG 2024 West Africa Banking Industry Customer Experience Survey revealed a marked shift: Ghanaian customers are more discerning and value-driven, increasingly expecting personalised, seamless, and transparent digital experiences. Notably, the SME segment has emerged as a leader in customer satisfaction, underscoring the vital role of SMEs in Ghana’s economic fabric. However, personalisation remains a challenge. For instance, only 32% of customers in the SME segment reported receiving services tailored to their financial needs, underscoring a significant opportunity for differentiation. Therefore, it is not surprising that some SME customers still perceive banking services as generic rather than tailored to their unique needs. Banks must therefore deepen their understanding of individual customer journeys, leveraging data analytics and ethical AI-driven insights to create empathetic, trust-based relationships.
This is where open banking becomes the next frontier of Banks; gaining a deeper understanding of their customers, thus allowing for more tailored services by securely exchanging data amongst other financial institutions and third parties. Similar to other African countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa who are in various stages of open banking adoption, the Bank of Ghana’s Draft Open Banking Directive signals Ghana’s preparedness for enabling more customer tailored products and services. The success of this initiative rides on Ghana's payment system interoperability and the single source of identity verification amongst others.
