Banks’ work with vulnerable customers under scrutiny

The Banking Code Compliance Committee (BCCC) is looking into the way banks deal with vulnerable customers and wants to hear from people who have dealt with a bank while experiencing vulnerability. 

The BCCC’s inquiry will closely examine compliance with obligations in the Banking Code of Practice regarding customer vulnerability, with customer experience being an important aspect.  

The Banking Code of Practice cites a range of characteristics relevant to vulnerability, including language barriers, socioeconomic constraints, age-related concerns, and instances of abuse or health challenges.  

Chair of the BCCC, Ian Govey AM, noted the importance of hearing from customers for the inquiry. 

“Customers experiencing vulnerability have important needs, and we want to make sure that banks are adequately addressing them,” Mr Govey said. 

“But to properly examine an issue such as vulnerability, we think it is crucial that we hear directly from the people experiencing vulnerability.” 

The call for customer experiences follows a report the BCCC published in 2021 that found progress across the industry was inconsistent, with gaps in staff awareness and service delivery, despite significant investment in this area. 

The BCCC’s report of 2021 made a range of recommendations aimed at improving practices and facilitating consistency across the industry.  

“As two years have passed since we published the report looking into the way banks dealt with vulnerability in customers, we want to examine the progress banks have made,” Mr Govey said. 

“We hope that hearing directly from customers will provide us with valuable insights that can lead to improvements in the industry. 

“Industry-wide improvements to practices will, in turn, lead to banks delivering better outcomes for their thousands of customers experiencing vulnerability.” 

To hear from people who have dealt with a bank while experiencing vulnerability, the BCCC has a short survey available. 

The survey asks a range of questions about a customer’s interactions with banks while experiencing vulnerability.  

The BCCC encourages anyone experiencing vulnerability to contribute to its inquiry by completing the short survey.