Customer Loyalty - A case study of Swedbank and Länsförsäkringar Bank

Background: The banking industry is a classic service industry where companiesand customers meet and where their interactions take placedaily. There are many reasons why an unsatisfied customer canchange company to a competitor and the customers that are loyalchoose to stay for certain reasons. There is a competition betweenthe commercial banks and niche banks which makes the relationshipwith existing and new customers more essential for thebanks. It is important for banks today to have loyal customers andbuild up long term relationships. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to understand the difference in strategiesof developing loyalty in a traditional bank and a niche bank,based on customer relationship marketing and compare Swedbankto Länsförsäkringar Bank. Method: A qualitative research method has been used in the thesis by aninterview with Kenneth Åberg at Swedbank and with EdinParazik at Länsförsäkringar Bank. We have used secondary datafrom other studies and combined with our own empirical findings. Findings: It has become important to have a customer focus as thecompetition has increased in the banking market. The generalrelationship marketing has become more focused on thecustomer, as more companies value the relationship withtheir customers instead of only focusing on the product orservices. It is equally important for the twoLänsförsäkringar Bank and Swedbank to strive for customersatisfaction and good work environment which encouragesand strengthens the creation of relationships. It appears forus that there are no major differences between LänsförsäkringarBank’s and Swedbank’s strategies in creating loyalty.Both the niche bank and the commercial bank are aware ofhow their organizations are affected by customer relationshipsand they also have customer loyalty as a starting pointto grow more and to get more market shares