Assessing Interrelationships among Banking Satisfaction, Cooperative Perspectives and Rural Service Beliefs in Cooperative Banking in Northern Nigeria

Abstract: This study examines the interrelationships among customer banking satisfaction, perceptions of cooperative society performance, and beliefs in the effectiveness of rural service delivery within the context of cooperative banking in Northern Nigeria. Grounded in service quality theories such as SERVQUAL (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1988) and supported by emerging evidence on financial inclusion (Central Bank of Nigeria, 2017; World Bank, 2018), the research investigates whether higher levels of banking satisfaction correlate with more favorable views of cooperative governance and rural service effectiveness. Data were collected from 164 respondents through a structured survey administered in both urban and rural settings. Spearman’s rank correlation analyses revealed a moderate positive association between banking satisfaction and cooperative society perspectives (ρ = 0.4721, p < 0.001), as well as between banking satisfaction and rural service beliefs (ρ = 0.47, p = 0.005). Further, moderated multiple regression analysis demonstrated that income level significantly moderates these relationships; higher-income customers exhibit stronger associations between satisfaction and both cooperative performance and rural service delivery. These findings underscore the multifaceted nature of customer evaluations in cooperative banking and highlight the importance of considering socioeconomic factors in service improvement strategies. The study offers actionable insights for cooperative bank managers and policymakers aiming to enhance financial inclusion and service delivery in regions with high financial exclusion.