Survey of
Consumers about Complaint Handling in Banking
Summary
Prepared
for Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
Supplier Name:
Environics Research
Contract Number: 5R000-182493/001/CY
Contract Value: $183,533.13 (including
HST)
Award Date: 2019-02-08
Delivery Date: 2019-04-26
Registration
Number: POR 124-18
For more
information on this report, please contact the Financial Consumer Agency of
Canada at:
info@fcac-acfc.gc.ca
Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français
Survey of Consumers about Complaint Handling in Banking
Summary
Prepared for Financial Consumer
Agency of Canada by Environics Research
April 2019
Permission to reproduce
This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes
only. Prior written permission must be obtained from Financial Consumer Agency
of Canada. For more information on this report, please contact Financial
Consumer Agency of Canada at: info@fcac-acfc.gc.ca
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the
Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2019.
Cat. No.
FC5-61/2019E-PDF
ISBN 978-0-660-31532-4
Cette publication est aussi disponible en
français sous le titre Sondage
à l’intention des consommateurs sur le traitement des plaintes dans le secteur
bancaire - Sommaire.
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) required quantitative
evidence to support its review of the accessibility, timeliness and
effectiveness of complaint handling in banking.
The specific
objectives of this research were to assess:
·
Level of awareness of
bank’s complaints handling process (CHP), including escalation procedures and
the option of taking their complaints to External Complaints Bodies (ECB), and
FCAC;
·
If information about
CHPs is readily available and easy to understand;
·
If CHPs are accessible
and transparent;
·
Consumers’ experiences
resolving disputes with banks and ECBs;
·
Experiences with
“attrition” (i.e., becoming exhausted with the process and dropping the dispute
before satisfactory resolution);
·
If there are regular
touchpoints and effective communication;
·
Consumer opinions of
the CHPs of banks and ECBs.
Methodology
Environics
conducted a quantitative, random-probability telephone survey with 5,000 adult
residents of Canada, from March 5 to 30, 2019 (respondents were screened to
ensure they had an account or credit card with a bank). A survey of this size
will yield results which can be considered accurate to within +/- 1.4
percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The data are weighted by region, age and
gender to ensure the final sample is representative of the total population per
the 2016 Census. More information about the survey methodology
is included in Appendix A of the full report.
The cost of this research was $183,553.13 (HST included).
Incidence of complaints and outcomes
·
Over four in ten Canadians (43%) experienced at
least one in a list of 11 banking problems in the past two years; close to six
in ten (57%) did not experience any. Among those reporting any banking problem,
a majority of close to six in ten (57%) indicated they experienced more than
one problem in the two-year time frame.
·
Canadians reporting a banking problem indicate a
range of issues, the most common being denied access to funds, transaction
errors, fees not being as expected, and fraud/unauthorized access to funds.
·
Among the four in ten who experienced at least
one banking problem, three-quarters (73%) made contact with the first
complaint-handling level; eight percent contacted the second level (the call
centre or complaints department), and two percent contacted level 3 (bank’s
internal ombudsman). Less than one percent reached level 4 (external complaint
bodies). Just over one-quarter who experienced a problem in the past two years
did not contact their bank about it.
·
Eight in ten who contacted their bank about a
problem (81%) went on to get a resolution at some level; two in ten (19%) did
not get their problem resolved. The likelihood of complaint resolution is
highest at level 1 (76% of those who contacted level 1) and drops with each
subsequent level contacted (43% who contacted level 2 and 34% who contacted
level 3).
·
There is increasing reluctance to contact higher
complaint handling levels when resolution is not achieved at lower levels. Half
(49%) who contacted but did not get a resolution at Level 1 did not go on to
contact Level 2; subsequently, two-thirds (65%) of those without a resolution
at Level 2 did not go on to contact Level 3. Overall, 12 percent of those who
contacted their bank to attempt to resolve a problem dropped the matter before
resolution (attrition).
·
There is limited experience with the external
complaint bodies that comprise level 4. Among the very small number of people
whose complaint was not resolved at level 3 (n=25), most (17 people) did not
contact level 4. One person indicated they contacted and had their problem
resolved at level 4; five people contacted an external complaint body but did
not find resolution.
Opinions of the complaint handling process
·
Four in ten (41%) Canadians who contacted their
bank about a problem said they encountered at least one barrier to resolution;
close to six in ten (57%) did not. The barriers mentioned point to a lack of
effectiveness of the process (26% - e.g., poor customer service, could not or
would not fix the problem), while accessibility (14%) and timeliness (7%) were
secondary issues. Similarly, reasons given for not contacting the bank in the
first place, or for dropping out before resolution, emphasize concerns about
effectiveness over timeliness and accessibility.
·
Close to nine in ten who reported their problem
was resolved said it took less than one month from when they first experienced
the issue. When the problem was resolved in under one month, only minorities
felt this was too long (14% resolved in less than one week, 41% one week to
under one month), but if the problem went on longer than one month before
resolution, strong majorities said this was too long (72% one to under three
months, 86% more than three months). Similarly, the decision to drop a
complaint (attrition) is most often made within a month.
·
Close to two-thirds (64%) of Canadians
contacting their bank about a problem are satisfied to some extent with the
process they experienced, while one-quarter (25%) are dissatisfied and 10
percent are neutral. Satisfaction with the process is inextricably linked to
effectiveness in bringing about a resolution: it is highest when resolved at
the first level (77%) compared to the second level (56%), and very low among
those who dropped their complaint (12%).
·
There are a few groups who consistently report
more issues with banks and/or less satisfaction with getting banking problems
resolved:
o
Satisfaction with the banking problem resolution
process, outcomes and timeliness is lower among residents of major urban
centres than those living in smaller communities, and among persons with
disabilities that cause them difficulties with banking.
o
There is some indication that two groups -
people with lower levels of education, and those speaking non-official
languages - are less confident in their ability to contact their bank about a
banking problem.
·
Canadians who did not have a banking problem in
the past two years, or who had a problem but did not contact their bank, are
confident they could find out what to do if they have a future banking problem
and that their complaint would be resolved to their satisfaction. However, once
they enter the complaint handling process, that confidence is not always borne
out, particularly for the substantial minority whose problem was not resolved
(19% who contacted their bank).
Awareness and information needs
·
There is low awareness (17%) of external
complaint bodies in the Canadian population. In particular, among those who reached Level 3, only 27 percent were aware
of Level 4 organizations, the next stage of the complaint handling process.
·
There is
moderate agreement among complainants that they were kept informed about the
status of their complaint (58%); however, the higher the level of contact, the
less likely they agree they were kept informed (68% whose problem was resolved
at Level 1, 47% with a problem resolved at Level 2, and 25% whose problem was
not resolved). Also, most complainants do not recall banks providing information
on additional complaint handling steps (only 30% recalled this, the majority (66%) did not).
Political neutrality statement and
contact information
I hereby certify as senior officer
of Environics that the deliverables fully comply with the Government of Canada
political neutrality requirements outlined in the Communications Policy of the
Government of Canada, and Procedures for Planning and Contracting Public
Opinion Research. Specifically, the deliverables do not include information on
electoral voting intentions, political party preferences, standings with the
electorate, or ratings of the performance of a political party or its leaders.
Sarah Roberton
Vice
President, Public Affairs
Environics
Research Group
sarah.roberton@environics.ca
613-793-2229
Supplier name:
Environics Research Group
PWGSC
contract number: 5R000-182493/001/CY
Original
contract date: 2019-02-08
For more information,
contact info@fcac-acfc.gc.ca