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The results of the latest Dive survey place two Estonian banks ahead of all other financial service providers in the country in terms of the telephone services they offer: Coop Pank and LHV. Furthermore, the best in-person service at bank branches is seen to be offered by LHV, Coop Pank and SEB.

The survey, conducted by the customer service improvement company Dive in late 2024, sought to gauge which banks offer the best service to their clients. Overall, it found that the service provided by the banks operating in Estonia is considered to be very good, with the results evenly matched.

The banks that were felt to provide the best telephone service in 2024 were the Estonian-owned Coop Pank and LHV, both of which scored 99.60% in this category. They were closely followed by Luminor (98.57%) and SEB (96.67%), then Citadele (90.64%) and finally Swedbank (72.77%).

Coop Pank’s Customer Experience Manager Piret Sooserv-Helmja says that the bank’s aim is to provide clients with personable and professional service in all of its channels: its Internet and mobile banks, customer support and branches around the country. “We’re delighted and honoured to have come out on top in the survey, since it shows that the effort we go to every day to provide our clients with first-rate service – which is to say prompt, friendly, caring, customer-focused solutions – is paying off,” she said.

The overall score for bank telephone services in Estonia was 92.99%, up from 90.60% the previous year.

The results of ‘mystery shopping’-style visits to bank branches in the country placed LHV first (100%), Coop Pank second (99.53%) and SEB third (99.34%).

The survey confirms that service quality continues to improve in all bank branches in the Baltic States. The aggregated result for Estonia in terms of branch visits in 2024 was 95.63%, up from 90.56% the year before.

Asked about the strengths of Estonian service staff in telephone banking, the respondents highlighted their skill in starting calls, identifying the client’s needs, offering a variety of solutions and closing out calls, as well as their overall communication skills. Lithuania followed the same pattern as Estonia, while Latvia showed more room for improvement in telephone services. The same strengths were identified in visits to branches, with one further skill being highlighted: offering additional products.

Robust results were scored in both service channels in 2024, indicating that winning new clients is important to all banks.

This latest survey also addressed the issue of accessibility, specifically in regard to bank branches. No scores were awarded in this category, but those visiting branches were asked to pay heed to how accessible the branches were. Attention was also turned to whether appointments need to be made to visit branches. There is no need to do this in order to speak to staff at Coop Pank’s branches, all 14 of which are open from 9:.00-17:00 or 10:00-18:00 Monday to Friday.

The survey also showed that banks actively promote Internet banking and apps to enable their clients to perform transactions anywhere and at any time. Dive notes that this is a growing trend, particularly in Estonia.

The Dive survey was conducted in two service channels – telephone banking and visits to branches – using the ‘mystery shopping’ method, with 10 calls and 10 visits made to each bank to open a current account. A total of 60 calls and 60 visits were made to LHV, Coop Pank, SEB, Luminor, Citadele and Swedbank in Estonia.