Peran Digital Banking Syariah dalam Meningkatkan Loyalitas Nasabah Generasi Milenial pada Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) dan Bank Muamalat di Kecamatan Sangatta Utara

Abstract

Digital transformation has shifted Islamic banking services from branch-centred interaction to mobile, real-time, and self-service transactions. This study examines how Islamic digital banking strengthens millennial customer loyalty at Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) and Bank Muamalat in Sangatta Utara. A descriptive qualitative field-study design was employed from December 2025 to May 2026. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation involving 14 purposively selected informants: twelve millennial customers and two bank employees. The data were reduced, thematically displayed, compared across sources, and verified through source, method, and time triangulation. The findings show that loyalty is shaped by the convergence of application ease, transaction speed, system security, feature relevance, responsive human service, trust, and perceived sharia compliance. Digital banking contributes to loyalty by reducing time and mobility costs, supporting twenty-four-hour transactions, and creating routine satisfaction. BSI emphasises an integrated feature ecosystem and direct product socialisation, whereas Bank Muamalat highlights transaction security, digital-channel education, feedback mechanisms, and understanding of system cut-off times. A distinctive finding is that repeated use does not always reflect strong attitudinal loyalty: payroll requirements or organisational arrangements may sustain behavioural use while customers still move funds to other banks. Therefore, Islamic banks should evaluate loyalty beyond transaction frequency by integrating reliability, customer education, transparent sharia communication, complaint recovery, and relationship quality. The study contributes local comparative evidence that Islamic digital loyalty emerges from functional value, security-based trust, and religious legitimacy rather than technological sophistication alone.