NBS has received the first award by the Banking Adjudicator for its handling of consumer complaints.
Five of South Africa's banks - Absa, Standard Bank, First National Bank, NBS and Permanent Bank - participated in the adjudicator's Award for Excellence in Customer Complaint Handling, which was instituted to encourage banks to treat complaints in a fair, reasonable and professional manner.
Local research company Markinor revealed the winner at a dinner in Johannesburg earlier this week. The winner was chosen after research among customers who had registered complaints with the five participating banks over the past six months.
Between 240 and 365 interviews were conducted with complainants to establish how well each bank dealt with typical complaints.
The role of the Banking Adjudicator's office is to assist consumers when a customer or small business cannot resolve the dispute with the bank itself.
Neville Melville, the Banking Adjudicator, said that the award scheme was a pilot project, which was why only five banks out of the approximately 50 registered in South Africa were represented. The project might be broadened in terms of the number of competitors and new categories may be added in the future, he said.
The rationale behind the award was that, through positive reinforcement, banks could be encouraged to treat customers who lodged complaints properly, he said.
"I would like to acknowledge the crucial role of the media in both providing a sanction for non-compliance by the banks with the recommendations of the adjudicator's office and in providing a stimulus for improvement by the banks," Melville said.
For publicity surrounding bad service to be a real deterrent, it was essential that bank customers be readily able to transfer their accounts without fear of debit order and bond transfer calamities or the loss of their credit history. Only then would individual banks either benefit from offering superior service or suffer as a result of not doing so, he added.
"It is hoped that the media will be of assistance to the office in explaining that its role is more that of a mediator or referee than of judge/executioner or legal counsel to the complainant."
So that they wouldn't lose sight of the focus of the adjudicator's role, some bank customers were invited to share their experiences with the banks' internal complaint handling mechanisms.
With regard to the Banking Adjudicator's Award, Melville stressed that the adjudicator's office had not in any way been involved in the research, the selection of the divisions of the banks that participated or the decision regarding the winner.
"The presentation of the award should not be seen as an endorsement of the recipient bank by the Banking Adjudicator," Melville said.
He added drily that the fact that a particular bank had won the award would not in any way affect the manner in which future complaints against it would be dealt with by his office.
If you have a banking problem
You must try to sort out your problem with your bank before you approach the adjudicator. Only if this fails should you get hold of Neville Melville, the adjudicator. He can be contacted at:
Tel: (011) 838 0035
Fax: (011) 838 0043
Postal Address: PO Box 5728,
Johannesburg, 2000
E-mail: adjudicator@adjudicator.org.za