Banks and Their Rigid Systems
By Georgia Mutale Musonda
There’s something deeply frustrating about walking into a bank and being met with a long, unmoving queue. You look around and notice multiple workstations, fully equipped and yet only a fraction are actually in use.
Out of six counters, only two are serving customers. The rest sit idle, almost like a display. It raises a simple but important question: are banks truly committed to serving their customers efficiently?
Banking is one of the most essential services in our daily lives. People walk into these institutions not just for routine transactions, but often with urgent needs, school fees to be paid, medical bills to be settled, business transactions that cannot wait.
Yet, the experience frequently feels slow, rigid, and disconnected from the realities of the people they serve. It’s hard not to wonder whether these systems consider the human element at all.
Is it a matter of understaffing? If so, then it calls for urgent attention. If not, then perhaps it points to something even more concerning, a resistance to adapt, to rethink processes, and to prioritize customer experience.
In a world where efficiency and convenience are increasingly non-negotiable, rigidity is no longer sustainable.
Banks have invested heavily in infrastructure, branding, and physical presence. But service delivery is where the true value lies. Empty workstations should not be part of the customer experience.
They should represent missed opportunities to serve, to ease pressure, and to build trust.
It may be time for banks to ask themselves difficult but necessary questions: Are we organized around our systems, or around the people we serve? Are we evolving with the needs of our customers, or expecting customers to adjust to us?
Because at the end of the day, banking should not feel like a test of patience. It should feel like a service.
FNB Zambia You’ve invested in excellent infrastructure and branding, but your service delivery is lacking.
#getitrealwithgeorgia
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