The Quality of Customer Relationships in Different Clusters of Italian Banks: Evidence and Implications

The M&A process, the financial crisis and regulatory and technical innovations have made the competition in the banking market more severe. The level of service and competence are now the key criteria of the banking offer where the long-term content of customer relationship is a critical factor of every bank’s success. Drawing on available literature, the aim of this paper is to verify customers’ perceptions and experiences relating to banks that still operate on a stand-alone basis or have merged into another bank in order to emphasize if and to what extent a strong relationship with their customers is promoted or guaranteed. The data were collected through different focus groups and during one-to-one interviews. The results highlight important differences in the two clusters of customers. Results are discussed and managerial implications are drawn.