Examining the Impact of Trust on Bank-Customer Relationship Management: Evidence From Nigeria

This research investigates the impact of ‘Trust’ on bank-customer relationship management in the Nigerian banking industry, and its roles on their performances over the years. The study is interpretive in nature and involves the conduct of thirteen (13) in-depth interviews on the subject-matter, with banks’ customers in Gombe, Nigeria. It shows that a relationship does exist between Trust, Relationship Marketing and Banks’ Performance indicators. The study also found that trust will change in terms of its influence and effects over the lifecycle of relationship development. It identifies various aspects of trust in banking and they include: Trust in bank’s liquidity position, promise fulfilments, communication systems, staffs, service delivery processes, online systems and physical and cyber security apparatus. These could serve as useful tools for decision making in the banking system. This paper has contributed to the relationship marketing literature by ascertaining the positive role of trust in relationship building and the resultant positive impacts on customer’s retention and bank’s profitability. Various aspects of bank’s trust were also identified for the first time.