FSS Governor Lee Chan-jin: “Financial firms should include complaint-handling performance in executives’ and employees’ KPIs”

[Financial News] Three out of every 10 financial firms were found not to have prepared even a standard response letter for consumer complaints.
On the 28th, the Financial Supervisory Service presented best practices for voluntary improvement in handling financial complaints and disputes, and urged the industry to implement them.
The FSS held a briefing on best practices for handling complaints and disputes for chief consumer protection officers (CCOs) in the financial sector, executives responsible for human resources and organization, and others. Its review of 77 financial companies’ complaint- and dispute-related decision-making systems, staffing and organizational structures, and intake and handling procedures found shortcomings in consumer accessibility, staffing levels and expertise, proactive complaint handling, and follow-up management.
The FSS’s best practices call for consumer protection departments (CCOs) to have decision-making authority over complaint handling and to operate complaint review committees (consultative bodies) and external advisory committees. They also call for financial companies to ensure adequate staffing for handling complaints and disputes, sufficient call center capacity, and systematic management of their complaint- and dispute-handling systems. To prevent consumers from having to wait on the phone for long periods, companies should set target wait times, such as no more than five minutes, and make it easy to file complaints through their apps or websites.
The practices also call for complaint and dispute cases, along with proposed institutional improvements, to be reported to the board of directors quarterly or semiannually, and for complaint-handling and prevention-related indicators to be reflected in the KPIs of CEOs, executives, and sales departments. They also include measures to hold employees accountable for complaints they cause, such as deducting points.

At the briefing, FSS Governor Lee Chan-jin pointed out, “Although harm and inconvenience to financial consumers are increasing, the financial sector has so far viewed building systems to handle and prevent complaints as a cost rather than an essential investment, and has fallen short in establishing adequate staffing, organizational resources, and counseling infrastructure.”
Together, 74.8% of the complaints received last year fell into two categories: those eligible for voluntary adjustment (58.3%) and those involving discourteous staff or simple inquiries, among other matters (16.5%). Governor Lee urged the industry to improve access so financial consumers can file complaints and seek consultations more easily, and to strengthen financial companies’ own capacity to handle complaints and disputes. He also called for complaint and dispute indicators to be meaningfully reflected in the KPIs of executives and employees, and urged the industry to “work to ensure that financial companies’ managements’ commitment to putting the ‘customer first’ becomes firmly established as a consumer-protection culture throughout their organizations.”
The FSS said it would support the adoption of the best practices and continue the feedback loop between complaints and disputes and supervision and inspections, including swiftly making institutional improvements when necessary to prevent harm from spreading based on complaints and disputes.
[email protected] Jo Eun-hyo Reporter