The Impact of Waiting Times on Customer Satisfaction in the Banking Sector: A Case Study of Rokel Commercial Bank, Freetown, Sierra Leon

Extended waiting remains a persistent challenge in physical banking, often creating dissatisfaction and weakening customers’ emotional resilience. This issue highlights the relationship between waiting experiences, service quality delivery, and overall satisfaction during routine financial transactions. Service performance is evaluated through five core constructs: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Perceived waiting time serves as a mediating factor that shapes how service quality influences satisfaction. Survey data from active banking customers were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling, with validity and reliability tests confirming that all indicators met statistical standards. The structural model demonstrated strong predictive accuracy. Reliability and empathy produced the highest path coefficients, showing that procedural consistency and emotional connection remain vital during service delays. The strongest effect was found between perceived waiting time and satisfaction, emphasizing the role of emotional interpretation in shaping customer fulfillment. To improve service outcomes, redesign efforts should prioritize behavioral engagement, perceptual clarity, and emotional compensation—especially when processing speed cannot be increased. Recommended interventions include verbal reassurances, visual queue management, and relational training for frontline staff. These strategies enhance satisfaction without major infrastructure investment. The findings offer practical guidance for strengthening service delivery through empathy-based staff development and accessible digital enhancements. By positioning time perception as a central construct, the model extends traditional service quality frameworks and supports replication in other high-contact service environments.