Customer Centricity and Financial Inclusion: Lessons from Other Industries

Many financial service providers struggle with high levels of account dormancy and customer dropouts, limited service usage, and loss of their best clients to other providers (GMSA 2014; Cheston, Conde, Arpitha, and Rhyne 2016). Negative customer experiences that erode customer trust are at the root of many of these challenges. Many of these negative experiences are the result of poorly designed products that do not respond to clients’ needs, are difficult for customers to activate and use, do not deliver on promised features, or are costly relative to their benefits. The challenges financial inclusion service providers face to acquire, retain, and grow their client relationships to create sustainable, profitable businesses, however, are not unique. Financial service providers can benefit from lessons learned from other industries. This Brief touches on these lessons from other industries.