Banking industry is one of the major service providers in Bangladesh with thousands of people taking service from them every day queuing up in their branches from morning till afternoon. However, the number of people taking banking service has sharply decrease with the emergence of Corona virus, a global pandemic. Banks are providing limited service of 3 hours starting from 10 AM to 1 PM, which has recently been increased to 2.30 PM in selected number of branches.

1. United International University
School of Business & Economics
Masters of Business Administration
Service Marketing (EMKT 615)
Spring 2020
Name: Md. Ismail Hossen ID: 112 192 017
Pre-Post Effect in Service Industry during COVID-19: ACase Study on Banking
Service
Banking industry is one of the major service providers in Bangladesh with thousands of people
taking service from them every day queuing up in their branches from morning till afternoon.
However, the number of people taking banking service has sharply decrease with the
emergence of Corona virus, a global pandemic. Banks are providing limited service of 3 hours
starting from 10 AM to 1 PM, whichhas recently been increased to 2.30 PM in selectednumber
of branches. The number of customer requiring physical service from them has sharply
declined as well, still we can see people lining outside those selected branches for making
transections, paying dues, withdrawing money and many more. With the arrival of this
uncontrollable event, both the ways of giving and receiving service has changed. Among many
banks in Bangladesh, I would like to highlight how Dhaka bank is providing their service in
present situation and the customers’ reaction towards their service.
Customer Expectation
Before Covid-19, customer expected fast paced service from the banks with minimum delay.
They required help from the available staff regarding from writing and submission. Service
from multiple counter and a wide variety of services. There were more freedom of movement
for the customer and employees. The availability of serviceable branch were more, which
provided more flexibility to the customers and ease of service. The queue for any specific line
were is to be small and the waiting time to receive a particular service was smaller. The
customer service of the bank will respond accordingly and provide quick solutions.
However, the scenario has changed with the emergence of Covid-19. Now the total service
hour has reduced to merely 3 hours and the selected branches only stay open in alternative
days, 3 days in a week. Still customerexpect to receive the adequate service from them. They
now know that a particular line for making a transaction will be long. They also expect the bank
to be clean and hygienic for the customer to enter and leave safely. The employees should be
in PPE,while everyone is wearing masks.Customers,themselves,wears masks as well. They
expect the bank service provider to use a form of hand sanitizer for the customers entering
the bank, which they Dhaka bank is doing in all of their branches. On top of that the lines are
quite long due to maintaining a 3 feet distance between each customer. Many customers has
already adapted to this new normal, however, they still believe the service time is quite low
and the queue is rather long. Many customer also return without receiving any service as the
time of bank closer comes nearer, they seem to leave the premises.Now customerare relying
more on their online banking system and expects the server to always stay open. Banks are
also updating the customerwith their changes in policies and systems through emails or SMS.
Desired Service vs Adequate Service
When corona pandemic was not present, most customer desired service level was high and
wanted the best service from the customer ranging from solving any kinds of queries to
withdrawing huge amount of money from one transection, while receiving cordial behavior
from all the present staffs.

2. Following the spread of Corona in Bangladesh, the customers’ desired service has lowered
and now people are happy with receiving the adequate amount of service they are receiving
from the bank. As everything has been limited due to the pandemic with nationwide lockdown,
bankers are also providing limited and acceptable service to the customers. Customers are
not complaining, except few, about the long queue or waiting time for a specific service. They
are gladly accepting the limited amount of services and transection they can make.
Nevertheless, it is the online transaction system or network of the bank, on which the customer
are providing more focus as many times the server time runs out or the app seems to crash,
increases the anomaly amidst customers. Dhaka bank has promised to improve their online
capacity as they were not ready, however, with time they have managed to increase the
stability of their online platform for the customers’ betterment. As customers realize that,
Covid-19, a situational factor, which is uncontrollable by the bank authority, customers are
putting up with the adequate service they are receiving and also predicting that, this level of
service is acceptable during such times of danger.
Explicit service promises: The service promises has changed and now banks are
more concerned about not only customers’ safety but also the safety of employees. Whereas,
every branch of Dhaka bank used to remain open 5 days a week and provided full range of
services, now, they are giving limited service of 3 days for only 3 hours each day and limited
range of services. Obviously they have communicated with theirs customer of these changes.
On top of that, they have assured to provide maximum security measures by disinfecting the
bank premises every day before and opening and after closing the bank. The employees are
all wearing masks along and customers have to wear a mask as well to receive service. They
are using hand sanitizers to ensure customer hands are disinfected as well.
Implicit Service promises:Through their protective measures they have managed to
establish a sense of security among the customers amidst this pandemic, even though their
service time is slow still reliable.
Word of mouth: Word of mouth played an inevitable role in the evaluation service
during this pandemic. Before corona, customer were more willing to visit branches and carry
out task on their own. However, customers now seek to find other customermostlyin relatives
who has visited the branch and ask about the environment or process that are being followed
now along with their experience regarding the service. If they evaluate positively, more
customer are likely to visit the branches. However, online banking has gained more popularity
than ever and word of mouth is definitely helping it spread. Friends suggesting friends, family
members suggesting other family members, which is not only helping to gain trust of over
online banking system but also making the new customer more familiar with the platform.
Past experience: The standard of service has changed with more exposure to the
service that the customers are receiving. The first time customer used to complain due to
limited mobility and long service time, however, a customer going multiple times during these
past two months have adjust to the system and believes that measurers such as these were
needed, which are proper social distancing, limited entry, new guideline for safety and such.
Zone of Tolerance
The zone of tolerance of most of the bank customers who come to receive the service has
narrowed down. The primary reason can be the invisible danger looming in our vicinity, which
the Corona virus. As only a limited amount of customers are allowed to enter the bank in a
particular time, the remaining people have to queue up outside of the bank, which increases
the fear among the waiting people. So with the passage time, these people grows restless as
they can anytime get infected with the virus. Another reason is most of them are visiting the
branch for emergency purpose and we know that busy customerhas narrow zone of tolerance.
So banks are trying to control or broaden the zone by providing safety measures outside the
bank, such as maintaining distance among customers, disinfecting the area, using hand

3. sanitizers or giving updates on how long it might take for the next batch of customers.
Assurance is the key it seems.
Customer Satisfaction
The parameters of satisfaction has changed with the emergence of Covid-19. What makes
customers once dissatisfied no can be considered as normal procedure because the situation
is both out of the control of customer as well as the bank. Customers are clearly making do
with limited availability of service. Moreover, many customers are appreciating because even
under this life and death situation they are being provided the essential service, which is
helping them immensely.
Customer are mostly in an ambivalent situation making them sometimes judge the service
negatively. Mostly when waiting outside in queue before receiving the service from a banks
employees. However, the authority has little control over the outside of the premises and can’t
usually do muchto help them. Mostly customerreturn in a good mood after receiving a service,
which is immediately overshadowed due to the fear of Covid-19.
I believe the biggest downside is the perception in fairness of the service. When situation was
normal, taking advantage of internal links were much tolerable among the customers as there
were plenty of counter available for taking service. As there is no longer priority booths or
specialized booths, many customers are still being seen taking the service without waiting in
the line. Many are utilizing their links in the office to receive immediate service, while many
customers are still waiting in the lines for hours. This is one of the factor, which also leads to
the narrowing of zone of tolerance amidst the customers.
Point of Evaluation
To assess the quality of service pre-post corona, we will be observing the three following
variable and see how customers interpreted them while receiving service from the bank in
different times.
Interaction Quality: Quality of interaction has not significantly change in terms of
behavior of the service providers, here the bankers, are still treating the customers with care
in regards of their service. However, the main change can noticed in the swiftness of providing
service and intimacy. As people are waiting muchlonger than usual time and in very restricted
environment, mostly outside of the bank, which at times lead to poor interpretation of service
quality. On the other hand, the safety measures taken at each contact point now are much
appreciated by the customers.
Physical Environment Quality: The surrounding of the branches providing the
service has not change besides some minor upgrades. Customers still go to the same branch
and it looks as it was before. Branches are now more cleaners and lines are now maintained
with more restriction having added line separator inside the branch. Banks of also taken an
extra measure to keep their outside clean by sanitizing the area where customers stand in a
line.
Outcome Quality: Well outcome quality is as expected with no change. Customer
who goes the bank returns with the desired service they went there for. It was same before
and after the corona. Even though the number of customer has reduced, still the service they
are expecting from the bank is being provided in Dhaka bank. The only exception is present
when the time ends and many people are seen in lines returning without service. But, this
scenario was present under normal circumstances as well where people had to return after 4
PM without service.
Service Quality
Total quality of the service the Dhaka bank is providing can be judged from the 5 dimensions
of service quality in the terms of customers experience and judgement regarding the quality.

4. Reliability: Upon talking with several people and using it myself it has been observed
that the service is as reliable as it was in the past. The service may be limited but is being
delivered dependably and accurately even during the pandemic. Customers rarely return
without service, mostly to their own lack of knowledge.
Responsiveness: Dhaka bank is quite responsive and trying their best to help the
customer even under the pandemic situation, which was good in normal circumstances as
well. Customer facing any issues are being suggested alternatives. Students are able to pay
their fees even when the respective university has stopped providing the memos or receipt.
They are patient enough to solve the queries as much as possible.
Assurance: Bank service providers always undergo training in handling customers
and their queries with care and competency. They have always managed to establish trust
with customers during interaction before the pandemic. It appears that, after the arrival of
Corona, specialized training has been provided to the selected service providers who will be
working in rosters. With this new training and safety measures, they are able to handle and
instill trust in the customer much better than before.
Empathy: Empathy was present in the employees as they have been seen taking care
of people’s queries with upmost care before corona. Now with the fear of Covid-19, we still
see the bankers are operating and providing service as per customerrequest even though the
service level is limited. I myself got help from the staff regarding the submission of my
admission fee for the running trimester. They are still willing to listen and solve our problems
if possible.
Tangibles: Dhaka bank has always been great at giving proper physical evidence in
their branches starting with the money receipts, forms, posters schemes, dress code of the
employees, chambers, waiting space and counters. These items are still prominent during the
pandemic, however, the number of paper has reduced. On top of that, they have safety
concerns in their notice board and things to do or how to wash hands properly are being
displayed on the walls. Employees also operate while wearing PPE to further create a sense
of security for the customers. Overall, the branches are more hygienic and clean than before.
A great shift towards e-banking
The biggest difference that can be noted is in the E-banking services. Even though the
emphasis on online banking and the transection rate was lower, however, with the emergence
of Covid-19, they are encouraging more customers to conduct online banking, especially for
small task such as transection history, balance checking, fund transfer and many more. We
can observe by standing in lines, the guards are prompting the customer to use the Dhaka
Bank for easy access tomany services.They are putting moreeffort into updating their servers
and keeping the runtime as much as possible. One of the significant thing they have added is
Whatsapp banking where, they respond to queries using Whatsapp for customers. This will
be launched in a pilot basis for the employees and once it completes the initial phase it will be
available for the general people. Customers can take the service both through messages and
voice calls on the WhatsApp platform. The Dhaka bank Go app is something where they are
investing heavily and making it as feature rich as possible for minimizing customer visit to the
branches.
Conclusion
Overall, I would like to say, that even though the bank has been going under a rough time,
however, it has brought of changes that would have taken years to adapt. The financial loss
may recover soon, but, the changes and improvement they got will last with them to ensure a
better service and more portable service for the customers. Through this pandemic both
customers and bankers were again reminded of the importance of the bank service, especially
for customers.