Financial firms face oversight pressure over rising consumer complaints

Financial authorities are stepping up efforts to strengthen consumer protection by urging financial firms to take a more proactive approach to managing customer complaints before disputes escalate, industry officials said Wednesday. As part of the broader regulatory push, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has requested major banks, brokerages, insurers and card issuers to submit detailed reports by this week on the status of their complaint and dispute cases, along with plans to reduce them. It marks the first time the financial watchdog has systematically gathered both complaint data and company-led response strategies across the industry. Under the new guidelines, firms are being asked to assess their complaint-handling workloads across departments and call centers, including the number of cases processed per employee, while also drawing up semiannual plans to reduce consumer grievances. Additionally, companies are expected to analyze whether increases in complaints are structural or temporary in nature and establish quarterly and annual reduction targets accordingly. “The goal

Original source: Korea Times