Annual Report: Prevention work showing results

media release – 20 October 2016

Prevention work showing results

More focus on preventing banking disputes through early intervention is starting to pay off according to the scheme’s 2015-16 annual report.

Banking Ombudsman Nicola Sladden said the overall number of cases had risen only slightly compared with the year before – from 3,213 to 3,323 cases – but their make-up had changed noticeably.

“Over-the-phone-type enquiries made up a growing share of our work, and simpler complaints were unchanged. The big shift was in disputes, which shrank in number but grew in complexity.

“I attribute this to two factors: greater determination by banks themselves to resolve problems before their customers come to the scheme – leaving us with the frequently difficult or protracted cases – and greater emphasis by us on education to prevent disputes in the first place,” Ms Sladden said.

Ms Sladden said a growing number of people were making use of resources available on the scheme’s website, especially its highly popular quick guides and case notes. Visitor numbers had risen more than 60 per cent in the year.

She said the scheme had also begun collecting more detailed demographic information about who used its services – data that would be used for more targeted education work.

Overall customer satisfaction with the scheme reached nearly 80 per cent, which was also a pleasing result, Ms Sladden said.

“Lending cases continue to be our bread and butter, increasing to almost a third of our caseload. This was largely due to the surge in customers with concerns about early repayment costs when interest rates began to flatten out.”

The scheme introduced new rules at the start of 2016, which clearly explains to our customers how the scheme works, and how we investigate complaints.

The 2015-16 report is available at https://bankomb.org.nz/news-and-publications/annual-reports.

Ends

201516B_Omb_AR_2016_OCT.pdf

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