Bank customers complain about customer service. The regulator calls for banks to be more open to clients.

Increasing population’s trust to banks should be the goal not only for the government but also for the market participants, said Head of the FMA, Elena Bahmutova , during the Expert Committee roundtable organized by media holding Business Resource. “As a regulator, we are also responsible for consumer protection. Unfortunately, the number of complaints against banks has not declined,” she said. She added that the most frequent complaint is that only a credit consultant can provide the necessary information and since there is a shortage of them, one has to wait in a long line. “Banks should organized their work in such a way that customers have access to medium-rank managers who can also make decisions,” she said.

Banks’ non-transparency makes the population mistrustful, said Bahmutova. “We cannot gain customers’ trust if banks treat their customers like that. There is a law that allows filing complaints against government bodies within 15 days of the incidence, but there is no such law with regard to financial institutions.  I think this is nonsense. When a bank is trying to attract a customer, it doesn’t spare an expense, but if a client is in a difficult situation and needs advise, he cannot find support” she said. Ms. Bahmutova thinks that not only PR service but also management should be involved in solving these problems. .

Deputy general director of KzRating Denis Rybalkin told & that how fast and effective the bank is in addressing a complaint depends on its competitiveness and ability to draw customers. He said banks are reluctant to deal with clients directly, so legislature changes may be necessary to regulate banks’ relations with customers, including setting a maximum time allowed for a complaint review.  However, its is not only the banks that are responsible for the lack of an effective dialogue as  many complaints are due to the lack of a financial education on the part of the population,” thinks Rybalkin.

Julia Yakupbaeva, Director of Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan, agreed with him: “The Association sends every single complaint to the corresponding bank and asks for feedback on its status. Some clients complain, for example, that they can’t receive a credit extension when they had already received a credit extension on two occasions.” She said the Association had previously suggested making legislature changes to set complaint review terms. “The Civil Code has already set a 15-day period to review a complaint, but if it needs to be specified, nobody from the finance community is likely to oppose it,” summed up Ms. Yakupbaeva.

Senior economist of Finam Management Alexander Osin thinks that the most common complaint is that additional fees come up during the financing process and the customers were not informed about them when they signed the contract. The expert disagrees with the need for legislative changes to set maximum terms for complaint review. “It is not productive to put pressure on banks today when they are actively trying to raise capital. There may be need for these measures later, in 2012-2013, when the economy stabilizes,” said Osin.

 

Elena Dmitrieva