Customer satisfaction level in islamic banking and conventional banking (a case of Pakistan)

The main purpose of this research study was to identify the level of customer’s satisfaction by using the products and services of both Islamic and conventional banks in Pakistan. Furthermore, this research study determined the customer’s satisfaction level in banking in terms of; internet banking, management interaction and the banking environment, service quality in term of SERVQUAL model, ATM facilities, privacy and security The main objective of the study was to investigate the following main points.(1) Customer`s satisfaction level in Islamic and conventional banks. (2): Why customers prefer to choose Islamic banking system in Pakistan? (3): Why customers prefer to choose conventional banking system in Pakistan? It is therefore, a critical literature has been carried out which investigated the real factors through which customer satisfaction take place in banking sector. The closed ended questionnaire has been used in this research study in order to collect research data. To analyze the collected data, cross tabulations and charts have also been used which showed the satisfaction level of the customers of Islamic and conventional banks and also to differentiate between the participant`s responses of Islamic and conventional banks. A large number of factors have been observed from the research study analysis which illustrated that, in Pakistan, customers are more satisfied from the products and services of conventional banks rather than that of Islamic banks. However, in Pakistan, the customer satisfaction in all financial institutions is not as good as according to the standard. In addition, the banking sector is trying to improve all of their products and services and want to make them according to the international standard. But due to various factors such as; the political instability and religious norms, the banking sector is still far behind. ARTICLE INFORMATION Received: 25 Jan 2016 Revised: 25 March 2016 Accepted: 25 March 2016 DOI: http://dx.doi.org//10.31580/jmi.v9i1.50


Introduction
In the modern world, rapid expansion and sophistication have been observed in the banking and financial activities as compare to that of few decades before. As a result, various concepts of banking come into being. To attract and satisfy the customers banking sector is not only focusing on payment or depositing services but they have adopted various investment, management and financial strategies. These varieties of strategies and plans which include securities, pension funds, insurances and Mortgages etcetera have attracted the customers toward the banking sector. On one side, Profitability in business has been increased but on the other side, the risk has also been increased. Islamic banking system is considered as a major change in banking sector. Furthermore, the development and expansion have been observed in the Islamic banking system due to which a large number of customers are attracted toward them day by day. However, majority of products and services offered by Islamic banks are very similar to that of conventional banks and will be highlighted in the remaining part of this research work. According to Hassan and Lewis (2007) from the last three decades, a tremendous development have been observed in Islamic banking system, so, approximately 200 Islamic banks work successfully around the globe in 70 different countries. Like conventional banks, Islamic banks are also spreading very fast in various countries including United States of America (USA), United Kingdom (UK), Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Middle East. The satisfaction providing, and retaining the customers are the chief objectives of any financial institution. As for as, the importance of customers in the banking sector is concerned, modern banks are providing various products and services to their customers on the basis of easy terms and conductions. Hence, the customers of both Islamic and conventional banks are attached with their banks due to certain reasons such as the profitability, religious norms and security etcetera.
banking system is purely based on the profit and loss sharing and interest is forbidden while conventional banking system is totally based on the interest. According to Gait and Worthington (2009) profit and loss sharing and prohibition of interest are the fundamental principle due to which Muslim customers are attracted towards the Islamic financial system rather than that of the conventional banking system. While on the other hand Kamla (2009) claimed that in Islamic banking system exclusion of interest and profit and loss sharing very low. Furthermore, the research study is also focussing on the various products and services offered by Islamic and conventional banks in order to attract customers. In other words, which products and services (Islamic or conventional banks) are better than the other and either these products or services can be used by both Muslim and non Muslim customers. It is not easy to search a significant literature on customer satisfaction level in both Islamic banks and conventional banks, however, to fill the gap a great effort have been done with the help of this research study in order to show the customer`s willingness for a specific banking sector. As a result, the main purpose of the research study is to explore the main factors which bond the customers for a specific banking system (Islamic banking system or conventional banking system). In addition, the research study also aim to investigate that either Interest, or religion belief are the only factors which split the banking system into two systems or there some other factors involve in the selection of Islamic or conventional banks.

Customer satisfaction
In business studies, customer satisfaction is very popular research topic which means "the customer`s feeling for using the products and services (Yoon, 2010). According to Jamal and Naser (2002) customer satisfaction is the customer`s attitude or feeling for products and services after using. In this way the customers which are satisfied from the given product and services will help to attract other customers and perform a positive role to develop an organisation and increase future earnings. In the same way, Taylor and Baker (1994) stated that Customer satisfaction play a key role to know the future attentions of the customers to buy a particular product. Likewise, File and Prince (1992) stated that the customers which are satisfied can also perform a function of advertisement by telling their experience to other customers. Therefore a customer can only be loyal and satisfied from a particular company when their product and services have good quality as compare to their competitors (Dimitriades, 2006). Almost all organisations around are the world are very serious about the customer satisfaction because customer satisfaction has very large affect on the market share of firms and the customer retention (Hansemark and Albinsson, 2004). Similarly, Anderson et al., (1997) has also concluded that there is a positive relationship among financial performance, customer service quality, loyalty of customer and customer satisfaction. The more improve the product and services of a corporation, the more will be the customer satisfied and so on. Likewise, Brady et al., (2002) argued that customer satisfaction depends on the service quality of a company. On the other hand, Gursoy and Swanger (2007) are of the claimed that there is no positive relationship between customer satisfaction and financial performance because when financial performance of an organisation is high the customer satisfaction may not be affect. According to Meuter et al., (2000) many consumer researchers and marketers considered customer satisfaction as a significant issue (theoretical and practical issue). Majority of corporations are struggling to improve the quality of products and services to attract their customers and considered customer satisfaction as a corporate goal (Biter and Hubbert, 1994). In this way the satisfied customers plays an important role to repurchase a particular product and they become a source of advertisement by advising friends and relatives to use the same products and services. Buzzel and Gale, (1997) noticed that both high quality services and customer satisfaction both bring improvement in market share of a company and attract the customers to repurchase. Therefore, Anderson and Narus, (1990) concluded that to build a stable relationship between a consumer and a producer, trust is also considered as an important element which has a great impact on the customer satisfaction. While examining the performance of Dutch firms, (De Vries and De Jong 2002) found that for the satisfaction of employees, customers plus competitive advantages, quality standards is very necessary. ATM (Automated Teller Machine) is basically used to make small loans, collect bills, transferring of funds between various accounts, issue withdrawals and accepts deposits etcetera. In banking sector ATM is very much visible revolution (Litan, 1999). Besides, Mcandrews (2003) describe a number of utilities and importance in his article as: ATM has reduced cost servicing, cash can be easily withdrawal from any place and at any time, no need to visit to a bank to withdrawal cash and it save the time as well. Furthermore, Raihan, et al., (2001) stated that in recently in Bangladesh, the shared ATMs network has been introduced and will be promoted to other parts of the country. Similarly, Raihan (1998) observed that by using the ATM and other internet facilities for transaction, the cost of banks will be reduced and will gain more profit.

Customer satisfaction in term of interest (Profit)
In banking sector, interest rate plays a very important role to determine the customer satisfaction. The study of Classical economists shows that at a higher level of interest the saving of consumers will be high . Additionally, Conventional banks offer various types of deposits to the depositors at different rates of interest. The depositors will gain more profit if the maturity of deposit is longer and vice versa . On the other hand, Rose, (1991) claimed that banking sector not only take away the shares from the rivals but also focus to increase profitability and protection of banks.

Customer satisfaction in term of security and privacy
In modern banking system, security plays an important role to satisfy the customers. According to Ranganathan and Ganapathy (2002) for e-commerce applications, security is one of the most important factors. In the internet security there are different technical advancements that is: authentication, certificates, digital signatures and cryptography. So using internet customers concerned on security of monetary transactions. Yoon (2010) argued that with the help of online banking monetary transaction takes place. So by removing the security concern, the satisfaction of customers will be increase with the online banking. Similarly, Liao and Cheung (2008) found that in online banking security is an important factor to satisfy the customers.

Customer`s preference to select islamic banking sector
According to Iqbal and Molyneux (2005) in both Islamic and Non Islamic countries, Islamic banking has gained too much popularity due its fastest growth and variety of products and services. Khan and Bhatti (2008) found that in the financial world, the estimated worth of Islamic bank sector has reached to one trillion United States dollar ($1 trillion) and it is expected that in 2012, the size Islamic banking industry will develop from $700 to $1.6 trillion. Similarly, a report issued by (SBP Islamic Banking Bulletin, October, 2009) shows that in Pakistan, the development in the Islamic banking institution has increased to 60% every year (5.3% in assets and 5.5% in deposits) from 2005 to September 2009. Following are some factors which show the customer`s preference to select Islamic banks. According to Awan and Bukhari (2011) religious belief has been considered as one of the most important factor for selecting Islamic banks and has been mentioned in a large number research works. Awan and Bukhari (2011) also argued that for banking services, Muslim customers mostly focus on the religious belief. While, Zaher and Hassan (2001) is of the opinion that religious belief is not an important factor for Muslim customers to choose a bank. A survey conducted by Omer (1992) shows that in the United Kingdom, the conventional banks which offered the services of Islamic banks have majority Muslim customers rather than those banks which do not offered any Islamic modes of finance. In the same way, Hegazy, (1995) in Egypt, approximately 98.8 percent of Muslims used the services of Islamic banks.

Customer`s preference to select conventional banking system
Like Islamic banks, there are various factors which show the customers preference of Conventional banking system rather than that of Islamic banking system. Some of these factors are given below.According to Kamel (2002) customers prefer conventional banking system due to the higher rate of interest. Conventional banking has different kinds of deposits account which offers various rate of interest. Haron (2001) argued that interest rate is positively related with the saving. If customers increase their saving than banks will offer them maximum rate of interest. Similarly, Conventional banks on various depository schemes, offer different rate of interest. So in banking sector interest rate is considered as the centre of all financial activities (Ariff, 1988). In conventional banks, due to change in the deposit prices various factors are affected which include deposit mix decisions, the balances of customers, deposit rate of interest and the rate of loan offered by the banks (Haron and Ahmed, 1994). Fast and reliable services and increase in the number of branches are other important factors which attract customer from Islamic banking sector to conventional banking section. For example in Malaysia in the year 2006, the ATMs facilities provided by conventional banks were 4,869 and that of Islamic banks were 766 (Parker, 2007). In the same way, Khattak and Rehman (2010) stated that the services offered by conventional banks are low cost as compare to that of the Islamic banks. It is therefore the financial system of Islamic banks is very complex as compared to the conventional banks.

The research methodology
The cross tabulation method is used to analyze the data of the research. On likert scale statement of questionnaire, the Pearson Chi square has also been applied by the researcher so that to explore the differentiation of responses of the both banks (Islamic and conventional banks) participants.

The boundaries (or) universe of research study
In the research study, for any type investigation the regions or boundaries of the research should be very clear (Kumar, 2008). Hence, in Pakistan, the boundaries have been defined by the researcher that is, all the four provinces. In these four provinces the network of both conventional and Islamic banks is present and operating their services to satisfy their customers from various product and services. Furthermore, customers have been chosen by the researcher from four conventional banks and four Islamic banks so that to achieve the objectives. Furthermore, for Islamic and conventional banks, the boundaries have been reduced to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa provinces. In this research study, 5 main cities such as Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Lahore and Attock have been selected in the Punjab province by the researcher. On the other hand, Swabi, Peshawar, Timergara, Nowshera, Mardan, Mansehra, Kohat, Charsadda, Batkhela, Bannu and Abbotabad are the main cities in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa for the research study`s boundaries. In addition, the results obtained will also be applicable in the remaining parts (provinces) of Pakistan.

Sampling type and ssize of the research study
A total number of 430 participants (customers) from both conventional and Islamic banks have been chosen by the researcher in order to explore their level of satisfaction. It is therefore, from the province of Punjab and province of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, 430 participants have been chosen in which 250 participants (customers) are selected from Islamic banks while the remaining 180 participants (customers) are chosen from the conventional banks. In addition, in order to investigate the customer satisfaction level, four conventional banks and four full fledge Islamic banks have been chosen in the research study.

The data collection methods (or) methods for data collection
The data collection method used in this research study (customer satisfaction level in Islamic and conventional banking system) is the qualitative method. in this research study, to collect data, email (electronic method) has been applied by the researcher. Moreover, the researcher gets all the answers (responses) from the closed ended questionnaire.

The descriptive statistics
Participants have been chosen from eight different banks in Pakistan, four from conventional banking system and four banks from Islamic banking system. The participants which have been selected from conventional banks consist of; United Bank Ltd Pakistan, Muslim commercial Bank Ltd Pakistan, Askari Bank Limited Pakistan and Bank of Khyber Pakistan. On the other hand respondents are also been selected from Islamic banks which consist of; Emirates Global Islamic Bank Limited, Meezan Bank Limited, Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan Limited and Al Baraka Islamic Bank Limited. The numbers of questionnaires distributed for the research study are 500. The data received from these questionnaires are 430 in numbers and the unanswered questionnaires are 70. Hence, the rate of response was more than 80%. So this response is better for statistical analysis. In addition, it is very necessary to know that for the research study if the rate of response is lower than 60% than the response rate will be hardly acceptable. In Pakistan a total of 96% population are Muslim, so in this research study, all the selected respondents are Muslim. Furthermore, among 430 participants, the numbers of males are 296, while 134 participants are female which become 68.8% and 31.2% respectively. The data collected for the research study consists of different age groups, For example; the participants whose ages are 25 years or below are 19.1%. Similarly, the participants whose age group are between 26 to 40 years are 37.2%. Furthermore, the respondents having age groups between 41 to 50 years are 27.4% and from 51 years above participants who contribute in the research study are 16.3%. The data have been collected for the research study from the participants of various professions including; students, school teachers, university lecturers, civil servants, businessmen and investors. Among them, 7.2% students, 12.8% school teachers, 28.1% businessmen, 14.4% civil servant, 25% investors and 12.6% university lecturer participated in the research study. In addition, out of 430 respondents, most of the information has been collected from the businessmen 28.1% (121) and investors 25% (107). To provide information, respondents of various qualifications contributed in the research study. Hence, out of 430 participants (100%), 8.1% (35) participants are H.S.S.C (High secondary school certificate), 20.9% (90) respondents are Graduate where as 70.9% (305) participants are Post Graduate and above. It shows that most of information has been collected from experienced and qualified people which are 70.9% (305).

Secondary data
Secondary data has been collected for the research work by the researcher by studying various books, academic articles on "Islamic banking system and conventional banking system" and on "the customer satisfaction by using the product and services of these banks". Furthermore, some other famous books have been used for the methodology of research, for example; the book of Collis and Hussey (2003) on "Business Research", the book of Flick (2009) on "Qualitative Research" and also the book of Kumar (2008) on "Research Methodology" and so on.

The research findings
In this chapter, the researcher will discuss the data which is collected from the participants regarding the customer satisfaction level in Islamic and conventional banking systems. For the interpretation of the collected research data, a comprehensible pattern and clear theme is also required. In addition, in the research study the participants may have different responses regarding product and services of Islamic banking system and conventional banking system. The Pearson Chi-Square tests shows that the Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) 0.000 value is less than P<0.05 which clarify that there is strong significant difference between the satisfaction level of the respondents of both Islamic and conventional banks. From the Chi-Square test, it is very clear that Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) value is 0.000 which is less than P<0.05. So, there is a strong significance difference between the respondents of Islamic banks and conventional banks. (2-sided) shows that the value of 0.000 is les between the respondents of Islamic banks and conventional banks. From the Chi-Square test, it is very clear that Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) value is 0.000 which is less than P<0.05. So, there is a strong significance difference between the respondents of Islamic banks and conventional banks.  From the Chi-Square test, it is very clear that Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) value is 0.281 which is greater than P<0.05. So, there is no significance difference between the respondents of Islamic banks and conventional banks.  Table 4.6 demonstrate the views of the participants regarding the convenient branch (bank) location in Pakistan. So, out of the total respondents (100%) (430), sums of 90% (387) participants are fully satisfied from the convenient branches of the banks, only (2.1%) (9) respondents are satisfied up to very low level and 7.9% (34) goes for the medium. It is therefore very clear that there are enough banks branches in Pakistan which are providing the product and services to satisfy their customers. In Islamic banks, out of the total respondents 58.1% (250), a total of 94.0% (235) participants really appreciated the convenient branch location, only 0.8% (2) do not satisfied while the remaining 5.2% (13) respondent are partially satisfied from the convenient branch location of Islamic banks in Pakistan. On the other hand, in conventional banks, a total of 84.4% (152) are satisfied from the convenient branch location, 3.9% (7) are less satisfied while 11.7% (21) respondent goes for the medium. In addition, between Islamic and conventional banks, respondents are more satisfied from the Islamic banks location rather than that of conventional banks that is 94.0% (235) and 84.4% (152) respectively.  The Pearson Chi-Square tests shows that the Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) 0.005 value is less than P<0.05 which clarify that there is strong significant difference between the satisfaction level of the respondents of both Islamic and conventional banks The Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) 0.000 value is shown in the Pearson Chi-Square tests which is less than P<0.05 which clarify that there is strong significant difference between the satisfaction level of the respondents of both Islamic and conventional banks. The Pearson Chi-Square tests shows that the Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) 0.000 value is less than P<0.05 which clarify that there is strong significant difference between the satisfaction level of the respondents of both Islamic and conventional banks. Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) value 0.001 is shown in the Pearson Chi-Square test which is less than p<0.05. So, the significant difference between the participants of Islamic banks and conventional banks is very strong. The Exact Sig. (2-sided) value 0.000 is shown in Pearson Chi-Square test which is less than p<.05. Hence, it clarify that there is a strong significant difference between the satisfaction level of both conventional and Islamic banks respondents. In the above Chi-Square test, it is very clear that Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) value is 0.48 which is less than P<0.05. So, there is a strong significance difference between the respondents of Islamic banks and conventional banks.  Table 4.13 shows that in Pakistan, out of the total respondents 100% (430), 91.4% (393) of the participant prefer Islamic banks because of the interest free elements, while 8.6% (37) of the respondents do not prefer Islamic banks due to interest free elements. Thus, the majority of the participants choose Islamic banks because they are free of interest. In the total participants of Islamic banks 100% (250), 94.4% (236) totally prefer Islamic banks rather than conventional banks because of the interest free business but 5.6% (14) of the respondents do not prefer Islamic banks due to interest free elements. Out of the total participants of conventional banks 100% (180), 87.2% (393) participants also prefer Islamic banks due to interest free dealing in all products and services, while only12.8% (23) of the respondents do not prefer Islamic banks due to interest free elements. The Exact Sig. (2-sided) value 0.000 is shown in Pearson Chi-Square which is less than p<0.05. Hence, it clarify that there is a strong significant difference between the satisfaction level of both conventional and Islamic banks respondents.

Chi-Square Tests
The Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) value 0.000 is shown in Pearson Chi-Square which is less than p<0.05. Hence, it clarify that there is a strong significant difference between the satisfaction slevel of both conventional and Islamic banks respondents.

Explanation of the main findings
In this research study of customer satisfaction level in Islamic and conventional banking system, the responses from the participants of conventional banks are limited as compared to the Islamic banks. It is because in Pakistan, majority of population 96% is Muslim. Furthermore, the Muslim customers are attracted toward the Islamic banks due to religious norms. While, conventional banking system is totally based on interest which is prohibited (Haram) in Islamic Shariah. Therefore, Awan and Bukhari (2011) argued that for banking services, Muslim customers mostly focus on the religious belief. Similarly, a survey conducted by Omer (1992) shows that in the United Kingdom, the conventional banks which offered the services of Islamic banks have majority Muslim customers rather than those banks which do not offered any Islamic modes of finance. It is very cleared from the research findings that the counter services provided by conventional banks are better than those which are provided by the Islamic banks. It shows that the conventional banking system is more developed and professional than the Islamic banks in order to provide counter services. Thus, Awan and Bukhari (2011) examined that the most important factor for customers to choose a bank is their quality of services. Similarly, the responses of the participants show that the conventional banks are providing relatively more advance technology than the Islamic banks to satisfy their customers. Hence, in Pakistan the overall counter services provided by the banks are not efficient because more than half of the respondents are not satisfied from the fast and efficient counter services provided by banks. On the other hand, the advance technology which is used by the banks is very good. The internal environment of the bank plays a very important role to attract and retain the customers. The research analysis data shows that, the customers of the conventional banks are more satisfied from the interior comfort of the banks. While, in Islamic banking customers are comparatively less satisfied than the customers of conventional banks. However, it has also been observed from the research data analysis that in Pakistan, the overall banking environment is very satisfactory for all kinds of customers. As for as the bank`s management staff services are concerned, in Pakistan, both the Islamic banks and conventional banks staff are highly professional and efficient but comparatively the conventional bank`s management staff are slightly more efficient and professional than the Islamic banks staff. Though, the research study clearly indicates that all the consumers are very pleased from the management staff services of the banks. Therefore, Beatty et al., (1996) noticed that management should make a stable relationship with the customers rather than having occasional exchanges. Similarly, the financial advice department of both Islamic and conventional banks are very helpful which provide all the important information and advices to their customers. Furthermore, approximately equal response has been obtained from the research study regarding help and sincerity of the financial advice department of both Islamic and conventional banks. From the result analysis, it is very clear that bank`s convenient branch location play a vital role to attract the customers. So, in Pakistan, the customers of Islamic banks are very happy from the convenient branch location than the conventional banks. It is because in Pakistan, the Islamic banking system is spreading very fast as compare to conventional banking system. Hence, according to Awan and Bukhari (2011) the most important factor for customers to choose a bank is convenient location to the business place or to the home. Moreover, based on assets and capital, the customers of conventional banks are more attracted by the assets and capital of the banks rather than the customers of Islamic banks. However, it is very obvious from the research finding that majority of the customer of both conventional and Islamic banks have chosen their banks due to their assets and capitals. From the research study, it has been observed that the service charges of Islamic banks are very high as compared to the conventional banks. So, majority of customers are not pleased from the higher service charges of Islamic banks. Similarly, Khattak and Rehman (2010) stated that the services offered by conventional banks are low cost as compare to that of the Islamic banks. However, it has been found that, more than half fifty percent of the customers still appreciated the banking services charges in Pakistan. Various opinion have been obtained from the result analysis regarding the customer`s bank selection process in Pakistan. The higher percentage of the respondents selects banks due to religious norms. While the remaining percentage of respondents signify that customers choose banks due to several important factors such as profitability, security and efficiency purposes. Thus the authors like Zaher and Hassan (2001) are of the opinion that religious belief is not an important factor for Muslim customers to choose a bank. The research study also indicates that in Pakistan, the customers of Islamic banks have very good relationship with their banks as compared to conventional banks. Due to the reason; Islamic banks customers are increasing day by day which ultimately increases the market shares of Islamic banks in Pakistan. In the research finding, large number of responses shows that for the rapid progress and development of Islamic banks, trained staff is required. While only a very small number of responses show some other factors. Similarly, the forums and conferences are also very necessary for creating awareness about the Islamic banks. Thus, the overall findings about the success of Islamic banking illustrate that for the rapid progress and development, trained staff and regular forums and conferences are required. Finally, it has been observed from the research study that, bank speed and efficiency of transactions services of conventional banks are very good than that of Islamic banks. The customers of Islamic banks are less satisfied from the Islamic banks speed and efficiency of transactions services. Hence, the overall banks speed and efficiency of transactions services are appreciated by the customers in Pakistan. According to Lovelock, (2000) in banking sector, to satisfy the customers, quality services are considered as the best indicators.

Conclusion:
From the research study, it can be concluded that customer satisfaction is an important research topic in all e-commerce and marketing studies. Customer satisfaction is simply the customer`s feeling or behaviour for the product or service which has been offered by various marketing and financial institutions. Furthermore, Customer satisfaction plays a tremendous role to investigate the intention of the customers to buy a specific product or service. As for as the modern banking system is concerned, the importance of customer satisfaction cannot be ignored because, both Islamic banking system and conventional banking system are trying to facilitate their customers by providing various products and services.
In Pakistan, the customer satisfaction in all financial institutions is not as good according to the standard. The banking sector is trying to improve all of their products and services and want to make them according to the international standard. But due to various factors, the banking sector is still far behind in Pakistan. The main reasons are the political instability, religious norms etcetera. Furthermore, the research study shows that a large number of customers are satisfied from the performance of conventional banking system against the Islamic banking system. However, in Pakistan, the customers are very satisfied from the conventional banking system due to various factors such as bank`s fast and efficient counter services, advance technology, Bank`s management staff services quality, financial advice department of the bank, convenient bank`s branch location, assets and capital of the bank, low service charges, profitability in the form of interest, secure and efficient banking, the bank speed efficiency of transactional services and so on. Whereas, interior comfort of the bank`s branches, religious norms, are the factors due to which customers are less satisfied as compare to Islamic banks. On the other hand, in Islamic banking system the factors from which the customers are satisfied are; religious norms, the interior comfort of the bank branches, financial advice department of the bank, interest free banking system and the regular advertisement and promotional campaign etcetera. Therefore, it is very clear from the research evidence that the overall performance of conventional banks is relatively very good as compared to Islamic banking system in Pakistan.

Limitations (or) drawbacks of the research study
In Pakistan, this research has covered only 2 important provinces which show that the research has been carried out on a very small level and has shown little generalizability.

Recommendations
To satisfy the customers, banking sector should improve various factors and must provide the products and services according to the demand of their customers. Given below are some recommendations that should be adopted by the banking sectors in order satisfy their customers.
(1): The first most important factor is internal banking environment. Customers will be more satisfied if the banks provide them friendly and secure environment.
(2): Efficient and accurate counter services are the demand of the consumers. So, by providing the efficient and accurate counter services, customers will be retained and satisfied. Furthermore, the quality services which are delivered to the customers must be according to promise.
(3): Trained staff members play a vital role to attract the customers. So, the banking sector should hired trained staff because for professional serving of customers, trained staff is required. Moreover, due to trained staff, the level of confidence of the customers will be increased and will be able to do business in future with the concerned bank.
(4): To build a good relationship with the customers, the bank`s branch location should be good and convenient to the customers. Furthermore, the channels which are for the communication purposes must be improved so that to get quick responsiveness and to increase the interaction with customers. (5): In order to gain competitive advantages, banks should use advance technology and must focus on the online banking practices which are also useful to create positive relationship between staff members and the customers. (6): To build the trust and to satisfy the customers, the data base system of the banks should be improved and secured. Furthermore, if the customer is not pleased from the bank`s product and services than they must get some feedback from the unsatisfied customers in order to improve them in the near future. (7): To deliver the better product and services, the banks should also judge policies of their competitors and must adopted if that is suitable for the banks and customers. 20 (8): Finally, the shortage of electricity is a big problem in Pakistan. The online banking, totally depend on the electric power. To facilitate the customers, the banking sector should introduce an alternate backup system which can be used in the absence of electricity such as the generators.