Complaint against financial institution decrease by 27% in 1st half of 2021 – BoG
Over 61% of complaint against financial institution was resolved – BoG
Bank of Ghana (BoG) has disclosed that it directed financial institutions in Ghana to make refunds or pay compensation worth over GH¢ 2 million to aggrieved customers in the first half of 2021
In its 2021 half year report on complaints management, the BoG said in terms of currency denomination GH¢396,000, £20,414.37 and US$250,000.00 were paid by financial institutions as compensation or refunds to customers.
“BoG in the course of complaint resolution, facilitated the payment of monetary compensation or refunds to certain complainants whose claims were found to have had merit in line with the Bank of Ghana’s market conduct rules for its regulated entities.
“Consequently, a total amount of GH¢396,000, £20,414.37 and USD$250,000.00 were paid by some regulated institutions as compensation or refunds to customers,” the report said.
According to the BoG, total of 321 complaints were made directly from customers of banks and other financial institutions in the first six months which shows a 27.87 percent decline compared with that of 455 complaints recorded in the same period of 2020.
The central bank explained that the decline was due to increased awareness on the part of the general public who seek redress from their various financial institutions.
“The Bank of Ghana observed that during the review period, financial service providers resolved most of their customer complaints hence the decline in the number of complaints escalated to the Bank. Out of the total number of complaints received from customers, 199 complaints were resolved within the required timelines representing a resolution rate of 61.99%.”
The central bank said this represented a decline of 20.7 percent compared with 368 complaints resolved in the same period of 2020.
“The decline was as a result of the complexity of the complaints and the availability of complainants for mediation processes. Some unresolved complaints also related to locked-up funds with distressed SDIs.”
It further explained that complaints resolved during the period under review were related mainly to loan transactions including wrong computation of interest rates, wrongful application of penal charges, early loan repayment charges, and credit histories held by licensed credit bureau.
Others include unauthorised and unexplained debits on accounts and charge-back arising from unsuccessful ATM transactions.
Meanwhile, from January to June 2021, the Bank of Ghana said it received a total of 144 complaints against banks, out of which 131 were resolved and 13 unresolved.
Governor of Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison