Effects of AI-Driven Customer Service on Customer Loyalty Among Mobile Fintech Users in Calabar, Nigeria

This study examined the effect of AI-driven customer service on customer loyalty among users of mobile FinTech service providers in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. Specifically, it assessed the influence of AI chatbot, personalized service experience, quick service automation, and AI security infrastructure on customer loyalty. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design. A sample size of 357 respondents was determined using the Topman sample size determination procedure from an indeterminate population of mobile FinTech users, while purposive sampling was employed to select respondents who had actively used mobile FinTech platforms for at least one year. Data were collected from 342 valid respondents using a structured five-point Likert-scale questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis in SPSS. The regression model was statistically significant (F = 78.245, p < 0.001) and explained 48.2% of the variation in customer loyalty (R² = 0.482). AI chatbot emerged as the strongest predictor of customer loyalty (β = 0.677, p < 0.001), followed by AI security infrastructure (β = 0.479, p < 0.001), personalized service experience (β = 0.337, p = 0.010), and quick service automation (β = 0.170, p < 0.001). The findings demonstrate that AI-driven customer service significantly enhances customer loyalty towards mobile FinTech service providers. The study concludes that effective deployment of AI-driven customer service represents an important strategy for strengthening customer loyalty within the mobile FinTech industry. Accordingly, mobile FinTech service providers should enhance AI chatbot capabilities, strengthen AI-based security systems, improve service personalization, and optimize automated service delivery to promote sustained customer engagement and loyalty in Nigeria's competitive FinTech environment.