DIGITAL BANKING TECHNOLOGIES AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN NIGERIA'S DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS (DMBS): EVIDENCE FROM PANEL DATA ANALYSIS

Despite the increased investment in digital technologies such as ATM services, internet banking, mobile banking, and point-of-sale (POS) transactions in Nigeria, bank customers continue to experience challenges such as transaction failures, network disruptions, service delays and security concerns. These issues raise important questions about the extent to which digital banking services contribute to customer satisfaction. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of digital banking services on customer satisfaction in Nigeria’s deposit money banks (DMBs). The study adopted ex-post facto research design. Seven (7) biggest banks in terms of customer base and customer complaints disclosure were purposively selected as the study's sample. The study employed secondary data sourced from CBN statistical bulletin and annual reports of sampled banks between 2015 and 2023. The Hausman and Lagrange Multiplier test results supported the adoption of the Random Effects model as the most appropriate estimator. The results showed that POS service with (β = 1.069; p-value = 0.014) has significant positive effect on customer satisfaction; mobile banking with (β = -1.093; p-value = 0.109) and ATM with (β = -1.816; p-value = 0.118) have negative insignificant effects on customer satisfaction; while internet banking with (β = 0.591; p-value = 0.127) has insignificant positive effect on customer satisfaction. The study concludes that digital banking services in Nigeria do not affect customer satisfaction equally, as their impact largely depends on service reliability, accessibility, security, and ease of use.