26th February 2010
Royal Bank of Scotland is to be investigated by the Financial
Services Authority after concerns were raised about the way it
deals with customers' complaints.
The banking giant said the FSA would examine "certain aspects"
of its complaints process and that it would co-operate "fully" with
the investigation.
The FSA's concerns are thought to have been triggered by the
massive number of complaints made directly to banks, and
particularly by the large proportion of disputes that are rejected,
or "fobbed off".
An FSA spokeswoman said: "We are looking at all of the major
banking groups and are particularly focusing on the adequacy of
complaints handling arrangements and the extent to which these
produce the right outcomes for consumers.
"We will be taking action where we find shortcomings."
Earlier this week, the Financial Ombudsman Service - the
official body that deals with unresolved consumer disputes with
financial firms - revealed that it had received more than 7,000
complaints from RBS customers in the past six months.
Of those complaints, the FOS subsequently ruled in favour of the
consumer in just 38% of disputes involving RBS subsidiary Direct
Line insurance, and 54% for complaints against RBS's High Street
branches.
Starting from July 2010, under FSA rules, financial firms will
have to publish data every six months on their websites about the
number of complaints they received directly from their
customers.
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