Complaints against banks are on the rise, according to the financial services industry’s ombudsman.
Overall complaint volumes remained stable, but banking-related complaints increased, according to the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI), which released its annual report for 2015 on Wednesday.
The Ombudsman opened 273 banking cases last year, up 21 percent from the year before. The increase continues a trend of history 2 yrs, based on OBSI, which also handles complaints related to investments.
The top complaints aimed at banks involved mortgage prepayment penalties, account collections and closures, and repair. There were also complaints about suspected fraud, primarily involving debit and credit cards.
OBSI received as many as nearly 5,300 inquiries from Canadian consumers, which resulted in the outlet and investigation of 571 cases.
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The bulk of them, 298 cases, were associated with investments, but that figure declined 14 percent from the 345 investment-related cases opened in 2014
Suitability of investment, or advice, continues to be most common supply of complaints associated with investments, accompanied by accusations of poor product and fee disclosure, complaints that client instructions weren’t followed, and beefs over service.
The OBSI report noted that the backlog of complaints that clogged the system as a direct consequence of the financial crisis was eliminated within the first half of last year.
Customers and clients of banks and investment dealer clients can use OBSI’s complaints service totally free, which makes it a well known choice when disputes cannot be resolved by a financial services firm’s internal ombudsman. However, while OBSI investigations result in recommendations for compensation, they aren’t binding.
Two major banks, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Royal Bank of Canada, no longer resolve banking disputes through OBSI, though their investment dealer units remain members.
