In today’s world, banks are facing fierce competition. It is difficult for banks to keep up with the pace of competition unless their offering is unique. This study is based in Kuwait. There are two types of banking systems in Kuwait which are the traditional conventional banks and Islamic banks. The main difference between the two is that conventional banks charge interest, whereas it is unlawful to charge interest in Islamic banks. There is a growth in Islamic banks in terms of deposits and assets; however, the conventional banks are ahead of them.

This study investigated the role of relationship marketing strategies in these two types of banking systems in attaining customer satisfaction leading to customer loyalty. Being an Islamic country, conventional banks are still more popular than their counterparts. It was interesting to do a comparative study between these types of banks in Kuwait to explore the impact of RM on customer satisfaction. The different RM variables adopted for this study were trust, commitment, communication, competence, and conflict handling.

This is a comparative study between Islamic and Conventional banks on the impact of relationship marketing leading to customer loyalty in Kuwaiti banks. According to researchers the impact of different RM variables and its pathway to customer loyalty has
not been much researched.The findings of this research will contribute to literature and will also help bank managers and bank policy makers.