Complaints management by the banks - a survey of 7 banks

FI's survey of complaints management by the banks shows the following:

• Complaints management is satisfactory at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken and Länsförsäkringar Bank. Certain minor administrative shortcomings were identified at Skandiabanken, Svenska Handelsbanken and Nordea. Complaints management was unsatisfactory at FöreningsSparbanken and ICA Banken.
• Processing times are short at nearly all of the banks covered by the survey and the consumer is informed if a matter will take longer than is customary.
• Most of the banks included in the survey issue adequate information to consumers about how complaints are managed. However, there were certain shortcomings in FöreningsSparbanken's information about consumers' possibilities regarding independent advice and settling disputes.
• Most of the investigated banks, with the exception of ICA Banken and Skandiabanken, have routines for training staff in complaints management.
• Follow-up procedures and routines for reporting results to management seem to function well in most of the investigated banks.
• All of the banks included in the survey register complaints centrally. At FöreningsSparbanken and ICA Banken, however, registration does not take place to the same extent in the local branches. There are also certain indications that Svenska Handelsbanken and Nordea do not register all relevant complaints, which implies that there are probably a number of unrecorded cases in these banks. FI views this as unsatisfactory.
• All of the banks in the survey have a written instruction for complaints management, adopted by the bank's board of directors.
• FI will continue to monitor complaints management by the banks in those areas in which shortcomings remain to ensure that complaints are handled satisfactorily.

Read more