Customer experience in digital banking: a review and future research directions

Purpose This study aims to demonstrate digital banking’s influence on customers’ evaluation of service experience and develop a framework identifying the most significant variables of digital banking that influence the financial performance of banks. Design/methodology/approach This structured review of literature, guided with the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses framework, takes a digital banking perspective to identify 88 articles published between 2001 and 2021, examining distinct aspects of digital banking and their impact on financial performance. Findings Customer experience (CE) is determined by functional clues (functional quality, trust and convenience), mechanic clues (website attributes, website design, perceived usability) and humanic clues (customer complaint handling). The study is furthered to combine CE with the service profit chain model. This study also fills the gap to understand the use of “gamification” in technology-driven banking services to enhance CE. Finally, an integrative framework is proposed to link technology-related factors (digital banking clues and gamification), customer-related factors (CE, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty) and performance-related factors (financial performance). Practical implications The study conceptualises a “total” CE framework that banks can use to enhance their online presence. Banking service providers could also analyse their financial results based on digital banking’s impact on customers. Besides, banks can use this framework to strategically place “game-like features” in their digital platforms. Originality/value This study attempts to significantly contribute to the digital marketing literature related to CE with banks. It is one of the first studies to determine gamification explicitly in banking literature.