RECEPTION OF THE FIRST BANK FIRSTMONEY APP AS A CUSTOMER SERVICE TOOL AMONG STUDENT CUSTOMERS

Customer service is becoming more demanding, and businesses are exploring various mean such as technological means, to meet the rising challenges. This study examines the use of technological tools for customer services by commercial banks in Nigeria, focusing on the First Money app. While banks widely use techs like USSD, ATM, and online banking, the advent of mobile banking apps have revolutionized banking services and enhanced customer services in the country. It is necessary to substantiate this view through empirical means. Thus, four research questions were drawn, and an online survey was employed as a tool for data collection. A 16-item questionnaire was prepared and distributed to students of mass communication across six universities in southwest Nigeria. The results show that most of the student customers who use the First Money app are satisfied with the services they receive from the app. They attest that they now perform most of their banking activities on the app and visit fewer physical bank branches. Therefore, it was recommended that Nigerian banks should constantly review their app technologies to include more services, such as foreign concurrency payment, forex trading, and more utility services. The excellence theory and the technology acceptance model provide the theoretical framework for this study.