Project Abstract

Project Overview

<p> <b></b></p><p><b><b>INTRODUCTION</b></b></p><p><b><b></b></b></p><b><b><p><b>1.0 IMPROVING CUSTOMER SERVICES IN NIGERIA<br>COMMERCIAL BANKS</b></p><p><b></b></p><b><p>It<br>will be necessary to elucidate more on the worlds, customer, bank, banking<br>business, bankers, commercial bank and services.</p><p><b>WHO IS A BANK CUSTOMER?</b></p><p><b></b></p><b><p>Almost<br>invariably, anybody who has anything to do in the bank, no matter the nature,<br>seeing himself as a bank customer at least as much as he is within the banking<br>premises.</p><p>Commercial<br>prudence also dictate that the bank affords its best attention to all and<br>sundry, what ever the type of relationship they may seem to be having with the<br>bank.</p><p>But<br>the question now is who then amongst those people are customers, and if some<br>are not customers what are they?</p><p>In<br>great Western Railway Company limited. V London and Country banking company<br>limited (1901), it was held that a person who has been cashing cheques from the<br>dependent bank, on this employer over many years was not a customer of the bank<br>by his mere cashing of cheques.</p><p>&nbsp;<br>There must be more than a mere cashing of cheques.</p><p>It<br>simply means that anyone who is not having an account with the bank cannot be<br>regarded as a bank customer. Furthermore, there must be a time when someone<br>began to be a customer.</p><p>A<br>person can becomes a customer of a bank when he goes to the bank with money or<br>a cheque and asked to have an account opened in his name and the bank accepts<br>the money or a cheque, and is prepared to open an account in the name of the<br>person.</p><p><b>WHAT IS BANK</b></p><p>Dr.<br>H. Hart define bank as “a person or company carrying on the business of<br>receiving monies and collecting drafts for customer subjected to the obligation<br>of honoring cheques drawn upon them from time to time by customers to the<br>extent of the amount available on their current account.</p><p>In<br>addition to that, section 41 of the Nigerian banking act of 1962 define a bank<br>as any person who carries on banking business and includes a commercial bank,<br>an acceptance account, financial institution and merchant banks.</p><p><b>WHAT IS BANKING BUSINESS</b></p><p>Section<br>41 of the Nigerian Banking Act of 1962 also defined banking business as the<br>business of receiving monies form outside sources as deposits of payment of<br>interest in the granting of money loans and acceptance of credit or the<br>purchase of bills and cheques or the purchase and sale of securities for<br>account or other of the incurring of the obligation to acquire claims in<br>respect of loans prior to their maturity or the assumption of guarantee and<br>other warranties for other or the effecting of transfer and clearing and such<br>other transactions as the commissioner, may on the recommendation of central<br>bank, by other published in the gazette, designate as banking business.</p><p>Section<br>61 of the banks another financial institution decree on 25 of 1991 (BOFID)<br>defined banking business as “the business of receiving deposits on current<br>account, paying or collecting cheques, drawn by or paid in by customers,<br>provision of finance or such other business as the gazette, designated as<br>banking business”.</p><p><b>WHAT IS A BANKER:</b></p><p><b></b></p><b><p>Over<br>the years it has been a very difficult task to give a true meaning and<br>definition to the word “Banker” as people misconceive it to be worker in the<br>bank.</p><p>However,<br>J.N. Gilbert defined a banker as “a dealer in capital or more properly in<br>money.</p><p>He<br>is an intermediate party between the borrower and the lender.</p><p>He<br>borrows from one party and lends to the other.</p><p>G.I<br>Bert in his definition lays emphasis meanly on the traditional functions of<br>bank (ie) probilisation of deposits and granting of loans and advances.</p><p>The<br>bill of exchange act of 1882 defined a banker as “A body of persons whether<br>incorporated or not, who carry’s on the business of banking “the bankers books<br>of evidence act 1879 defined a banker as “any person, persons, partnership or<br>company carrying on the business of banking and having duly make a return to<br>the commissioner of Inland revenue and also any saving bank certified under the<br>act relating to savings bank and also any post office saving bank.</p><p>However,<br>from these definitions one can conclude that a banker is any person or<br>corporation that provide a minimum banking services and which is license as a<br>bank by the federal government of Nigeria as a banking institution.</p><p><b>WHAT IS A COMMERCIAL<br>BANK</b></p><p><b></b></p><b><p>Commercial<br>banks are looked upon as those banks in Nigeria that accept deposits and uses<br>cheques for withdrawals, examples of such bank are:</p><p>1.<br>Access bank Nigeria limited</p><p>2.<br>Afric bank limited</p><p>3.<br>African continental bank</p><p>4.<br>All state trust banks</p><p>5.<br>Citizen bank Nigeria limited.</p><p><b>1.1 &nbsp; &nbsp; OBJECTIVE<br>/ AIMS OF THE STUDY</b></p><p>Firstly,<br>the researcher aimed at determining the problems of commercial banking in<br>Nigeria.</p><p>Secondly,<br>to evaluate the functions and duties of commercial banks to their customers.</p><p>Lastly,<br>to highlight the avenues for improving customers services in Nigeria commercial<br>bank.</p><p><b>1.2 &nbsp; &nbsp; SIGNIFICANCE<br>OF THE STUDY:</b></p><p><b></b></p><b><p>The<br>researcher has patterned to create awareness on commercial bank with regard to<br>their problem.</p><p>It<br>will be used in helping the commercial bank in identifying the causes of<br>customer’s leisure and ways of barricading them.</p><p>This<br>will of no doubt if achieved help to maximize profit because the higher the<br>customers the higher the profit.</p><p>It<br>will equally help the customer to identify those common areas of conflicts with<br>their bank to help transact peacefully.</p><p><b>1.3 &nbsp; &nbsp; BRIEF<br>HISTORY OF COMMERCIAL BANK</b></p><p><b></b></p><b><p>In<br>Nigeria, banking came with the advent of the British Colonists.</p><p>The<br>introduction of the first modern banking dated back to 1992 when the African<br>banking corporation was established in Lagos at the invitation of elder<br>demporter and company.</p><p>African<br>Banking Corporation was based in South Africa but merely opened a branch office<br>in Lagos to finance the shipping business of elder deporter company who was<br>operating stream ship services between liver pool and the West Coast of Africa.</p><p>Probably,<br>as a result of the good performance of the banking corporation another bank<br>opened its branch office in Lagos in 1894.</p><p>The<br>bank was the British West Africa bank now known as first bank Nigeria plc which<br>was registered in London in 1892 with and authorized capital of 100,000<br>pounds. </p><p>This<br>bank enjoyed the monopoly over banking business in Nigeria until 1916.</p><p>Until<br>this date, however the British silver currency in West Africa as issued by the<br>West African Currency board, which was established in 1912.</p><p>The<br>bank of British west Africa remained dominant in the field until 1916 when the<br>Colonial bank which was mere aggressive in the business of banking was<br>established.</p><p>As<br>a result of its dynamism, the bank opened fifteen branches within four years of<br>its establishment in West Africa.</p><p>In<br>1925, the assets and liabilities of this bank were taken over by a consortium<br>of banks comprising Barclays bank, Anglo Egyptian bank and the National bank of<br>South Africa to from a new bank named Barclays bank, dominion, Colonial and<br>over seas (D.O).</p><p>This<br>new bank had to change its name and late to Union bank of Nigeria plc.</p><p>Other<br>expatriate bank such as united bank for Africa (UBA), bank of India bank of<br>America and chase innattant bank were later introduced into Nigeria.</p><p>The<br>colonial government and businessmen established these banks and on such, they<br>were mainly catering for the interest of expatriate the indigenous men and<br>women and their enterprises were severally discriminated against.</p><p>This<br>discriminatory attitude of these foreign banks led to the first known protest<br>by the Nigerian business community.</p><p>This<br>was followed by an appeal from the native traders of Lagos to the financiers<br>from Great Britain when they visited Lagos in 1912.</p><p>The<br>height of these was the establishment in Lagos of the first indigenous bank in<br>1929.</p><p>This<br>protest “motivated “bank which was established primarily to moderate the<br>effects of the discriminatory credit and investment policies of the expatriate<br>bank against the indigenous enterprises went into liquidation in 1930. In 1931,<br>another indigenous bank banking institution, the Nigerian merchant bank was<br>formed with an initial paid up capital of N3, 400.</p><p>Its<br>total deposit did not exceed N5000 before it voluntarily liquidate in<br>1936.</p><p>This<br>bank had the same managing director with the fist indigenous bank (the<br>industrial and commercial bank) that liquidate in 1980.</p><p>The<br>features of these banks were largely due to inadequate capital, inexperienced<br>management and inefficient and crude accounting methods, as well as the<br>prevailing economic depression at that time.</p><p>In<br>spite of these woeful features the determination of Nigerians to own, control<br>and manage their own banks continued.</p><p>However,<br>successful indigenous banking efforts in Nigeria thus began with the<br>establishment of the National bank of Nigeria limited in 1993.</p><p>The<br>bank started with a normal capital of N20000 and paid up capital grew<br>from N2, 046 in 1936 to N29, 108 in 1946.</p><p>The<br>next successful established indigenous bank founded by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe in<br>1947.</p><p>Other<br>successful indigenous banks were established after wards.</p><p><b>1.4. &nbsp; <br></b><b>STATEMENT<br>OF PROBLEM</b></p><p><b></b></p><b><p>Customer<br>satisfaction is the single most important issue affecting organizational<br>survival. It has the most important effect on customer retention and in order<br>to narrow it down, focus on customer service quality as one of the customer<br>satisfaction factors. Despite this fact, most companies have no clue what their<br>customers really think. They operate in a state of ignorant bliss, believing<br>that if their customers were anything less than 100-percent satisfied they<br>would hear about it. Then they are shocked when their customer base erodes and<br>their existence is threatened. The key to competitive advantage is proactively<br>gauging customer perceptions and aggressively acting on the findings. The<br>techniques for doing this do not have to be difficult; they just have to be<br>timely and effective. Knowing that customer service is a pillar of the bank,<br>the researcher therefore decided to find out whether the kind of customer<br>service being provided in first bank plc has any effect on customer<br>satisfaction and whether there are barriers that prevent quality customer<br>delivery.<b></b></p><b><p><b></b></p><b><p><b>1.5 RESEARCH </b><b>HYPOTHESES</b></p><p><b>H01: </b>Customer service<br>management has no effect on banking business in Nigeria.</p><p><b>H02: </b>There is no significant relationship between<br>customer service and organizational performance.<strong></strong></p><strong><p><strong></strong></p><strong><p><b>1.6</b><b>SCOPE OF THE STUDY </b></p><p>The study is<br>based on the effect of customer service on organizational performance in<br>Nigerian banking institutions: case study of first bank Plc; Warri, Delta.</p><p><b>1.7 LIMITATION OF STUDY</b></p><p><b></b></p><b><p><b>Financial constraint</b>– Insufficient fund tends to impede the<br>efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature<br>or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire<br>and interview).<b></b></p><b><p><b></b></p><b><p><b>Time constraint</b>– The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study<br>with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted<br>for the research work.</p><p><b>1.8</b><b>&nbsp;DEFINITION</b><b>&nbsp;OF TERMS</b></p><p><b>Customer Service:</b>&nbsp;Is the process of<br>ensuring customer satisfaction with a product or<br>service. Often, customer service takes place while performing a transaction for<br>the customer, such as making a sale or returning an item. Customer service can<br>take the form of an in-person interaction, a phone call, self-service systems,<br>or by other means.</p><p><b>Organizational<br>performance: </b>It comprises the actual output or<br>results of an organization as measured against its intended outputs<br>(or goals and objectives). Specialists in many fields are concerned with<br>organizational performance including strategic planners, operations,<br>finance, legal, and organizational development.</p><p><b>Banking institution:</b><br>(also referred to as a universal or commercial bank) can range from a large<br>financial institution with a highly visible brand name and an international<br>presence to a small organization with a local presence.</p></b></b></b></strong></strong></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b><br> <br><p></p>