bank mecu - responsible banking

bankmecu monitors and keeps a register of all written and verbal complaints received from customers. Complaints are tabled and statistics are reported to the Board of Directors on a monthly basis. A ‘Complaint and Dispute Resolution Guide for Customers’ is available for customers on request, on bankmecu’s website and is provided to customers who make a complaint. The guide explains the process available for the resolution of complaints.

Customers are encouraged to raise any concerns with bankmecu as the first step to resolve any complaint. Any decision may be referred for senior management review.

If a complaint cannot be resolved under bankmecu’s internal process, customers can have access free-of-charge to external dispute resolution by an independent registered scheme. The schemes available are: 

• Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
• Insurance Ombudsman Service (IOS); or
• Private Health Insurance Ombudsman (PHIO).

Figure 5g: A summary of the main areas of complaint

There has been a significant decrease in the number of complaints received in 2010/11 as contentious issues, such as fee introductions or changes to Internet Banking security, were absent this year.

Eight customers referred their disputes to senior management for review in 2010/11. Matters considered included issues of liability regarding fraudulent transactions on member accounts, the administration of loan applications and lending processes,  the coverage of insurance policies and operational decisions made by bankmecu in the course of business.

In 2010/11 two customers referred their disputes to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for investigation and external resolution. bankmecu has been advised that, at this writing, these disputes are yet to be finalised by FOS. Two disputes raised with FOS in 2009/10 are still to be finalised.