Banks make complaining easy

Banks in South Africa are improving their record in dealing with and resolving customer complaints internally, before they reach the stage of going to the Banking Ombudsman, the Banking Association of SA says.

"Banks are improving the speed and turnaround time with which they solve queries between themselves and customers," said managing director Cas Coovadia.

"This is a definite sign of an effective ombudsman and a healthy dispute resolution process currently existing in our financial services sector," he said.

While there was some limited concern around isolated cases of reckless lending, of greater concern was the issue of over indebtedness generally, Coovadia said.

Banks were working closely with the National Credit Regulator (NCR) to monitor this, and restructure over-indebted borrowers where this was possible.

"In fact, all areas concerning reckless lending are dealt with and regulated by the National Credit Act (NCA) and banks are generally acting responsibly in this regard."

Coovadia said all claims should always be measured against the guidelines laid out by the NCA.

"The NCR has the power to look at the issue of whether the banks are lending recklessly and is the arbiter in these matters."

He said the NCA was designed to protect the consumer and he welcomed the NCR's ruling regarding any current cases of reckless lending.

"There always needs to be a mutual responsibility borne between the borrower and lender and this is regulated effectively by the NCA which was legislated for this purpose," he said.

Coovadia said South African banks were among the best in the world in terms of efficiency and infrastructure and remained well capitalised and profitable.

He cautioned that the NCA was clear on the consequences of reckless lending.

However, he said cases of reckless lending in South Africa, were in reality "few and far between."