Beyond Just Interest Rates: Prof. Hinson Campaigns for African Central Banks to Champion Customer Experience

Africa’s central banks must broaden their scope beyond monetary stability and bank supervision to become champions of customer experience (CX) in the financial services sector.

This is the call by renowned marketing professor and strategist Prof. Robert Ebo Hinson.

Speaking during an X Spaces conversation on “Enhancing Customer Service Experience in the Financial Services Sector,” Prof. Hinson challenged regulators to adopt a more proactive, strategic, and people-centered approach in shaping how customers interact with banks and financial institutions.

Poor customer service remains one of the most persistent complaints in Africa’s financial sector, from long queues and unresponsive call centers to complex complaint resolution procedures.

While banks carry the immediate responsibility for service delivery, he believes central banks can play a transformational top-level role by setting the tone, expectations, and sector-wide benchmarks.

“Regulating CX (Customer Experience) temperature should be part of the mandate of any forward-looking central bank in Africa. There are a multitude of customer experience issues where central banks can offer guidance, not necessarily legislation, but strategic direction,” Prof. Ebo Hinson, who is currently a visiting professor at the University of Johannesburg, remarked.

He added that, “CX best practices may not always fit a standard chart, but top-level influence can make a difference.”

This approach, he argues, would encourage a shift in the culture of banking, from process-driven to people-driven, where customer convenience, transparency, and accessibility take center stage.

“I’ve always dreamed of a time when you could walk into a bank and see a pop-up banner that simply says: Call this number. That’s the kind of simple, accessible experience we need to aim for,” he envisioned.

This, he explained, represents the kind of intuitive, user-friendly customer service culture that should become the norm rather than the exception in Africa’s banking halls.

Traditionally, central banks in Africa have focused on financial soundness, anti-money laundering, and prudential regulation. But as digital transformation accelerates and more citizens are integrated into the formal financial system, customer trust and satisfaction are becoming central to financial inclusion and stability.

To revolutionize the continent’s customer experience in the banking sector, Prof. Hinson maintains that regulators must evolve into enablers of positive customer journeys, not just watchdogs of banking operations.

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