PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to appraise various service quality models and identify issues for future research based on the analysis of literature.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines 14 different service quality models reported in the literature applicable to the banking sector. The critical review of the different service quality models is intended to compile the various dimensions which emerged out of the studies, compare the commonality between them, study their relevance and importance in banking in the various cultural and cultural contexts and highlight the limitations of the studies.FindingsThe review of various service quality models in banking revealed that the meaning of service quality may have some universal aspects, as demonstrated by the similarities in the underlying dimensions as proposed in the different studies. This paper lends support to the contention that the dimensionality of SERVQUAL and importance of the dimensions vary with the cultural and country context even within the banking industry.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper comprises a compiled report on the different service quality models and the effect of application of SERVQUAL in banking in different countries.Practical implicationsService quality has some common dimensions across the different models, however, the items involved and their operationalization in different cultural contexts within the same banking sector may vary. The paper indicates that a generic instrument for measurement of service quality or even one specifically developed for banking may not be applicable in its original form for all cultural contexts including Islamic society and banks. Development of the customized scale for measuring the service quality for a particular cultural or country context at that particular time is warranted. This paper brings a lot of information on service quality in banking under one roof and provides new directions to service quality researchers.Originality/valueThis paper offers practical help to researchers and practitioners in providing a direction for service quality improvement by indicating the common theme that emerges from the service quality models. Also, the differences in the relevance and importance of the dimensions, due to the change in the cultural and country contexts, have been brought to the forefront.

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