Financial Fairness and Frontline Service as Drivers of Customer Loyalty in Rural Banking

Customer loyalty is essential to the sustainability of regional rural banks, yet recent banking research has concentrated heavily on digital service quality, satisfaction, trust, and omnichannel experience, leaving the relative salience of economic fairness and face-to-face service execution less clear. This study examines and compares the associations of perceived interest-rate fairness and frontline employee service performance with credit-customer loyalty at PT Bank Perekonomian Rakyat Bahteramas Kolaka (Perseroda), Indonesia. A quantitative cross-sectional survey involved 96 active credit customers. Data were collected using a five-point Likert questionnaire and analyzed with multiple linear regression. Perceived interest-rate fairness was positively associated with loyalty (β = 0.209, t = 2.145, p = 0.035), while frontline employee service performance showed a stronger positive association (β = 0.314, t = 3.220, p = 0.002). The model was significant, F(2, 93) = 10.079, p < 0.001, and explained 17.8% of loyalty variance. The study contributes a dual-cue perspective by jointly evaluating an economic-exchange cue and a relational-service cue in a relationship-intensive rural banking context.