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Philippines: 83% of consumer complaints resolved in 2017 — BSP
MANILA, Philippines — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has resolved at least eight of the 10 banking-related complaints last year as it continued to strengthen consumer protection.
In its 2017 year-end report on Financial Inclusion Initiatives, the BSP said its Financial Consumer Protection Department (FCPD) headed by director Pia Roman-Tayag managed to resolve 83 percent of the 9,556 new financial consumer complaints, inquiries, and requests as of end-November last year.
On top of the list of complaints included credit cards with a share of 32 percent followed by e-banking with 18 percent, and lending with 14 percent.
On the other hand, deposit-related concerns or unauthorized withdrawals cornered 13 percent of the total number of complaints while other issues accounted for 18 percent.
The regulator said 4,528 complaints were referred to BSP supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) for proper action.
On the average, the BSP stated in the report banks responded within 5.72 banking days from the receipt of referral and within 11.8 banking days for subsequent referrals.
Major incidents last year include the glitch that almost paralyzed the operations of Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), as well as the skimming incident involving clients of BDO Unibank Inc.
In light of the observed market growth and number of complaints received on motor vehicle loans, the BSP is developing a research tool using mystery shopping to assess consistency of implementation of the Financial Consumer Protection Framework under Circular 857 across all BSFI offering said loans.
“The results of this study will serve as input to policy review and design of future market conduct activities,” the central bank said.
As part of its consumer protection mandate, the BSP issued three advisories covering responsible use of credit card, bank fees for deposit accounts, and un-dispensed ATM withdrawals.
The BSP has been pushing financial inclusion to provide all Filipinos access to affordable and client-centered financial services.
Source: http://www.philstar.com/business/2018/01/25/1781010/83-consumer-complaints-resolved-2017-bsp