South Africa’s banking sector is becoming increasingly digital, but customer expectations extend beyond faster transactions and more sophisticated mobile applications. Convenience, affordability, security and access to reliable support all influence the banking experience. According to FinMark Trust’s FinScope Consumer South Africa 2025 survey, published in July 2026, 89% of South African adults have a bank account, while 41% of banked consumers hold accounts with multiple banks. With banking access already widespread, the challenge for financial institutions increasingly lies in delivering meaningful customer value rather than simply providing access to financial services.
Digital convenience is reshaping banking expectations
Digital banking has transformed how South Africans manage their finances, allowing customers to transfer money, access credit and manage accounts without visiting physical branches. Yet the shift towards digital banking raises questions about whether convenience is being matched by consistent service quality.
In its June 2024 report, Banking Customer Service in Transition: Social Intelligence Insights into Online vs In-Branch Banking in South Africa, In On Africa (IOA) analysed 368,733 online posts relating to 11 South African banks between December 2023 and May 2024. Among the customer experience-related posts analysed, 58% of those discussing online banking expressed positive sentiment, compared with 48% of posts relating to in-branch experiences. Although these findings reflect historical online sentiment rather than current customer preferences, they provide a useful baseline for examining differences in customer experiences across banking channels.
More recent research published by the University of the Witwatersrand in 2025 identifies convenience, perceived usefulness, digital platform attributes and social influence as factors influencing digital customer experience, which in turn supports loyalty to traditional South African banks. These findings suggest that digital banking competitiveness depends not only on expanding online functionality, but also on ensuring that platforms are intuitive, dependable and responsive to customers’ everyday financial needs. This highlights the growing importance of usability and reliability in shaping digital banking satisfaction.
Banking access does not always translate into satisfaction
However, greater banking access and digital convenience do not necessarily translate into higher customer satisfaction. FinMark Trust’s FinScope Consumer South Africa 2025 survey found that 46% of consumers reported experiencing a problem with their bank during the preceding year, including unexpected charges, unclear fees and poor customer service. This highlights the importance of transparent pricing, efficient complaint resolution and consistent service delivery, particularly as customers navigate wider financial pressures.
The University of Pretoria’s 2025 Consumer Banking Customer Experience Index, reported by FAnews in April 2026, similarly identifies problem resolution and perceived value as important challenges for South African banks, alongside declining overall customer satisfaction. These findings reinforce the need for banks to demonstrate value beyond accessibility and convenience, particularly through fair pricing, responsive service and effective problem resolution.
Trust and human support remain essential
Beyond affordability and service reliability, trust and transparency are increasingly important as banking services become more digitally connected. Experian’s 2026 research found that 84% of surveyed South African consumers would feel more comfortable using generative AI provided by, or connected to, a financial institution they already trust. The findings also highlight the importance of consumer control, with 40% preferring AI agents to provide recommendations without taking action on their behalf.
As banks introduce more automated and AI-driven services, maintaining customer confidence requires clear communication, appropriate safeguards and transparency around financial decisions. This suggests that technological innovation must be accompanied by measures that protect consumers and preserve their control over important financial choices.
Beyond AI adoption, the 2026/27 Ask Afrika Orange Index examines customer experience through operational and emotional dimensions, including trust, empathy and problem resolution. This reinforces the importance of human support alongside digital efficiency, particularly when customers encounter complex problems or require personalised assistance. Rather than viewing digital and human services as competing approaches, banks need to consider how the two can complement one another throughout the customer journey.
What do these expectations mean for banks in 2027?
The evidence points towards a banking environment in which digital convenience, affordability, service reliability and customer trust must develop together. IOA’s earlier research highlighted differences between online and in-branch customer sentiment, while more recent studies demonstrate the importance of perceived value, problem resolution and personalised support.
For banks, the challenge is not simply to expand digital capabilities or reduce reliance on physical branches. It is to understand how different customer segments interact with banking services, where they experience difficulties and which forms of support they value most. As customer expectations evolve, a question becomes increasingly relevant: Are South African banks improving the services customers actually value, or simply expanding the channels through which those services are delivered?
In On Africa helps financial institutions better understand these evolving expectations through Customer Experience (CX) Research and Consumer Research, supported by advanced analytics and social listening. By combining customer feedback, consumer segmentation, customer journey analysis and market intelligence, IOA helps banks identify service gaps, understand changing customer expectations and assess performance across digital and physical touchpoints. These insights support more informed decisions around customer engagement, service delivery and long-term competitiveness.