UBF to develop unified framework to handle customer complaints

ABU DHABI / WAM

The UAE Banks Federation (UBF) has announced that it has secured the support of the Central Bank for its initiative that aims to develop a unified framework to handle customer complaints. The UBF is a professional body representing 48 member banks operating in the UAE.
“The proposed framework was developed as part of UBF’s continued efforts to enhance customer experience, as well as bring higher levels of transparency and efficiency in addressing concerns of the bank customers in the UAE. The Central Bank’s blessing for the framework paves the way for the country-wide implementation of this landmark initiative, which is in line with global best practices. It will ensure that customers’ concerns, rights and interests are taken care of and protected,” Abdulaziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of UBF, said.
As an expression of its commitment to customer satisfaction and happiness, and to ensure consistent service excellence, the UBF has unveiled ‘Service Promise’. This is a set of guidelines that set standards for good banking practices for the UAE’s banks to observe when dealing with complaints from customers. While the Service Promise is not a legislation, member banks have agreed to adopt and honour its obligations.
“The purpose of the Service Promise is to upgrade the quality of service that bank customers across UAE will receive when they file a complaint about a product or service. By providing a set of guidelines and adequate quality assurance to customers, Service Promise will raise industry standards and ensure standardised processes and experiences across banks, as well as help encourage consumer confidence in the banking industry,” Al Ghurair noted. The Service Promise is built around five guiding principles transparency, fairness, empathy, reliability and accessibility which Federation views as the core to daily banking operations.
Customers will be able to lodge a complaint through a variety of channels, including through call centre, branch, internet and mobile banking,
e-mail and web complaint forms, and the social media.