Your bank is committed to providing you with a high level of service. However there may be occasions when complaints and disputes arise. In this instance, the Code specifies a structured process for your complaint to be dealt with.
a. Principles
The underlying principles for dealing with your complaints are:
Sincerity - your complaint is important feedback and the bank will treat it seriously
Transparency - the procedures for handling complaints are documented and apply to all customers
Effectiveness - the procedures will provide for a speedy resolution
b. Raising A Complaint - with your bank
If you have an issue to raise or are dissatisfied with a particular service with your bank, there are 3 steps you can take:
Step One
You should contact your bank. You can do this by:
- Speaking directly to the bank staff serving you
- Writing to the bank
- Calling the bank’s Call Centre at 1300-88-5000.
- E-mailing the bank using the “Contact Us” option found in the webpage.
You need to provide your bank with the details of your specific complaint and supporting documents to help expedite matters.
On its part, your bank will ensure that:
i. all staff who deal directly with customers are familiar with the complaint procedures and are able to help you by giving correct information about these procedures;
ii. it acknowledges your complaint within 2 business days of receipt of it;
iii. it investigates your complaint and informs you of the status of its investigation within 14 business days of receipt of your complaint (For complaints requiring investigations conducted by a third party, this may take more than 14 days);
iv. an independent officer in the bank is empowered to handle the complaint.
Step Two
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome, you can contact the Customer Service Manager of your bank at Customer Experience Department, OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Menara OCBC, 18 Jalan Tun Perak, 50050 Kuala Lumpur
It is staffed with officers empowered to objectively handle your complaint. It will:
i. give you a written response within 14 business days of the appeal;
ii. inform you of any further action you can take which will include going to a third party.
Step Three
If you are still dissatisfied with your bank’s response, after dealing with the Customer Experience Department at the bank, you can approach the Financial Mediation Bureau Level, 25 Dataran Kewangan Darul Takaful, No. 4, Jalan Sultan Sulaiman, 50000 Kuala Lumpur. Where possible, the Bureau will give you an assessment of your case and mediate to resolve your dispute. If necessary, you will need to authorise your bank to disclose your account information to the parties who are involved in the investigation. The Bureau will respond to you within 14 business days. The Financial Mediation Bureau will refer your case to your bank if it has not yet have a chance to look into your complaint.
FINANCIAL MEDIATION BUREAU (FMB)
Financial Mediation Bureau (FMB) was set up to provide dispute resolution services between a consumer and commercial banks, finance companies or merchant banks. The FMB is funded by the above institutions and its services are provided free of charge to customers of these institutions. Currently, FMB handles disputes involving monetary losses of up to RM25,000 in relation to the following areas:
- Misleading advertisements
- Unauthorised Automatic Teller Machine withdrawals
- Unauthorised use of credit cards
- Unfair practice of pursuing actions against a person who is a guarantor
If your banking institution cannot resolve a complaint to your satisfaction in any of these areas, you may contact the FMB to look into your case. You have six months to forward your complaint to the FMB from the date of the "deadlock letter".
HOW TO REFER YOUR CASE TO THE FMB
You can write a simple letter to the FMB stating briefly the nature of your dispute together with a copy of the "deadlock letter" from your banking institution. You will need to fill in a standard form prepared by the FMB to give your permission to your banking institution, to disclose to the FMB, any information on your account as required by section 99 of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989. You do not have to use a lawyer to put your case to the FMB.
HOW FMB WORKS
The FMB, with your written permission, may obtain further information from your banking institution regarding your complaint and study the case, to see how best it can be resolved. The FMB will investigate your case based on the facts presented objectively. The FMB may conduct an interview with you or together with the banking institution, through a mediation process to resolve the dispute. FMB will then make a decision based on its own assessment, taking into account the law and banking practices. The decision of the FMB is binding on the banking institution but not on you.
You can choose either to accept or reject the decision of FMB. If you do not accept, the decision is deemed cancelled and you are free to take any other steps with respect to the dispute, including legal proceedings. However, if you do accept the FMB's decision, you may lose your right to proceed with legal action against the banking institution.
CUSTOMER ENQUIRIES
You can make enquiries on your bank’s products and services or give feedback through its:
(a) website
(b) telephone hotline
(c) bank branches
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