The latest statistics revealed on Wednesday (March 28) suggested that customer satisfaction in Singapore hit its highest level in a decade last year.

According to the Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore, the score reached 72.9 points out of 100. This figure was the highest total since the index was set up by the Institute of Service Excellence (ISE) at Singapore Management University (SMU) in 2007.

The index indicated a slight rise of 1.1 points up from 2016, which was attributed by strong fourth quarter performances in the finance and insurance as well as healthcare sectors, Straits Times reports.

Bank customers surveyed gave high scores in the index for digital banking channels, such as online and mobile. Nearly 90 percent digital banking users participated in the survey were aged 18 to 49.

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Meanwhile, waiting times before medical tests and seeing a doctor continued to receive low satisfaction ratings but showing year-on-year improvements in fields including ‘ease of getting around’ and ‘waiting experience’.

Regarding this finding, the ISE’s head of research and consulting Mr Chen Yongchang suggested that instead of being merely a comfortable holding area, waiting rooms should be transformed into patient education centres where patients can learn how to improve their health outcomes.

With a total 30,135 respondents surveyed throughout 2017, the Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore polls consumers in different sectors in each quarter. The fourth quarter study polled a total of 9,585 respondents from October 2017 to January 2018.

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