The Marketing Management honours Class of 2025 at the University of Pretoria (UP) displayed exceptional creativity and strategic thinking as they presented innovative concepts to enhance the customer experience for ABC Bank, a fictional, fully digital banking platform. Tasked with analysing real-world customer data, students proposed ground-breaking solutions aimed at reshaping the future of digital banking in South Africa.

Established in 2022 as the first dedicated Chair of its kind in Africa, the Chair in Customer Experience Management at UP has been a driving force in advancing the field of customer experience management. Most notably, the Chair launched South Africa’s first national Customer Experience (CE) Index – an industry benchmark that tracks customer experience across various sectors – earlier this year.

Prof Adré Schreuder, Head of the Chair in Customer Experience Management, introduced students to the principles of customer experience and journey mapping, and provided valuable insights from the latest CE Index findings before the project commenced. Using the latest CE Index results, students developed customer personas, mapped out customer journeys, and identified pain points and opportunities for innovation.

Their efforts culminated in a high-energy showcase on Wednesday, 22 October 2025, where the panel – comprising Prof Schreuder, Jeannie Badenhorst and Lizanne Krige from Experimark (Pty) Ltd, and Dr Michelle C. van der Merwe (the Services Marketing module lecturer) – were thoroughly impressed by the professionalism and creativity displayed. Prof Schreuder praised the students’ work, remarking that their presentations were of a standard suitable for industry client panels.

Left image - Winning team: Contactless Consultants. Jordan Chellan (team leader), Michael
Craddock, Chanelle Grobler, Rebecca Attenborough, Uphile Ade and Kishan Hargovan

Right image - Second place: Touchpoint. Christian-Roy Chemaly, Lehlogonolo Mashoeshoe,
Abbegail Riekert, Minette van Zyl and Nesan Michael (team leader)

First place went to the Contactless Consultants for their “Your Bank: Safe. Smart. Simple.” concept, which emphasised security and convenience with features such as AI-driven smart search, public Wi-Fi alerts and personalised financial insights.

Third place: Xtreme Consultants. Gia Eichstädt, Racaela Leitao, Micaela Wathen, Bontle Letlhaka, Zoë Taljaard and Brendan Brink (team leader)

Placed second, Touchpoint’s concept focused on intuitive usability and customer engagement, using a simple login, AI support, smooth navigation, card personalisation and gamified loyalty rewards.

Xtreme Consultants’ “As Banking Should Be” concept brought a human touch to digital banking with an AI chatbot, push notifications, a custom app dashboard and effortless in-app controls.

This Client Challenge offered Marketing honours students the opportunity to apply evidence-based customer experience theory in a real-world style competition, powered by the insights and challenges uncovered in the CE Index. The result was a night of impressive pitches, creative teamwork and rigorous data-driven strategy – demonstrating that the next generation of marketers is well-equipped to reimagine banking and deliver superior digital experiences for all South Africans.

Lizanne Krige, Prof Adré Schreuder and Jeannie Badenhorst (centre) with the Services Marketing class