14 February 2018
The passage through the parliament of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority Bill (AFCA) delivers a big win for Australian bank customers by creating a ‘one stop shop’ for resolving issues in the financial services industry.
Anna Bligh, CEO of the Australian Bankers’ Association, said the legislation, supported from the beginning by the banking industry, would streamline the complaints process and lead to a speedier resolution of issues for customers.
“A quick resolution of any dispute between a customer and financial institution is in everyone’s best interest,” Ms Bligh said.
“It’s always the first preference for customers to resolve issues directly with their banks, who have been putting in place extra measures such as ‘customer advocates’ to improve how they handle complaints.
“When a complaint needs to go further, it’s important the process is simple, fair and results in a speedy outcome.
“Merging three complaints authorities into a ‘one stop shop’ is common sense reform and should lead to speedier resolution of issues experienced by Australian bank customers,” Ms Bligh said.
“Australian banks have supported this change from its inception as a recommendation from the Ramsay review to ensure efficient and easier access to help for customers,” she said.
ENDS
Contact: Rory Grant 0475 741 007
Latest news
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) is informing customers about an important update that may affect some debit cards used in mobile wallets. Australian Payments Plus (AP+) is implementing a technical update to ensure that consumers can continue to make payments via eftpos from 1 January 2025. A small number of consumers who added their debit… Read more »
The Australian Banking Association welcomes the launch today of the Regulatory Initiatives Grid (RIG) pilot as an important step forward in improving transparency of the regulatory pipeline across key Government agencies and regulators. ABA CEO Anna Bligh said better coordination of regulation would provide additional certainty for Australian banks. “Banks recognise that effective regulation is… Read more »
New data released today from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), shows Australians continue to embrace the ease of mobile wallets when making payments. For the first time, the RBA’s latest monthly retail payments data includes a snapshot of newer payment technology, showing more than 500 million payments were made via mobile wallets in October,… Read more »