The Financial Services Authority required in August that banks publish their customer complaint data on their websites. In July a new bank, Metro Bank, opened as the first new banking business in 100 years in London and met its goals for the first year in only 5 weeks concentrating on customer service. Ulster Bank conducted an extensive study of what customers want in their banks and has announced new commitments to meet those needs. Banking in the UK may well be taking a turn to be more concentrated on customer service due to the success of Metro Bank as well as the public scrutiny of customer complaint data.
Ulster Bank is one of the banks that has announced a new commitment to its customers. Among the things that Ulster has announced are improvements to their ATM machines, the Saturday opening hours of 10 AM to 1 PM, and free text messaging when an account is about to go into the negative. They will allow their customer commitment program to be monitored for compliance and progress by Deloitte. The report by Deloitte will then be published for public view on their website.
Mike Bamber, Ulster Bank’s chief executive of retail markets, remarked: “Customer needs have changed and we have had to react to that. If customers do not notice a difference by the end of the year – then we will have failed and that has to be the acid test.
“We have to move on and get back to basics, and start meeting our customer’s needs more than we have met them in the past.
“Through extensive research carried out by the bank, we’ve listened to thousands of consumers, taken on board their suggestions and responded with these commitments which we hope will begin to address many banking concerns.
“We’ll use Deloitte to review how well we’re fulfilling our commitments or, equally, where we need to do more. We will continue to listen to our customers who will ultimately judge us on our performance and we will be open and honest about this feedback.”
In reference to the commitment for operating hours on Saturday, Mr. Bamber commented: “We will have more branches across the island of Ireland open on a Saturday than any other bank and we will be offering a full service.
“A total of 600 staff have volunteered to work on Saturdays – and we have recruited an additional 80 staff around this.’’
Ulster will also allow a customer the choice when calling whether they want left in the phone system or they want to speak to a live person as long as the call is made during opening hours. If a customer follows the bank’s security requirements should they become a victim of fraud all losses will be refunded. The bank is planning to offer debt counseling concerning their own loans with customers. A bank statement said: “We will continue to lend you money responsibly; however, if you do get into problems with debt we’ll help you to make realistic plans for dealing with it.”
Julie McCurley, Head of Money Affairs at the Consumer Council, said that Ulster’s announcement was good news for customers. She commented: “Consumers have been telling us that they want clearer communication from their banks and to be treated fairly.
“The Consumer Council welcomes the fact that Ulster Bank has engaged with its customers and listened to what they want before putting these new commitments together.
“The Consumer Council and customers will be able to measure whether Ulster Bank has achieved these commitments or not and will review and challenge their progress when the results are published.”
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