Banking Ombudsman Scheme gets high mark in independent review

25 October 2024

The Banking Ombudsman Scheme has scored highly in an independent evaluation of its operations, a report by the reviewer released today shows.

Consultant Deborah Hart, who conducted the five-yearly review, found the dispute resolution scheme met its terms of reference, strategic objectives and legislative requirements, the last of which concern its accessibility, independence, fairness, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness.

“Overall, this is very positive report card,” said Banking Ombudsman Nicola Sladden. “It confirms that we are make a valued and credible contribution to a fair banking sector.”

The review rated the scheme highly for its dispute resolution work and ability to pinpoint the causes of complaints and share insights with banks and others to improve the overall banking experience.

It also acknowledged the scheme’s rigorous and credible approach to reaching decisions, noting that the scheme had satisfactorily implemented the recommendations of the last review, which Ms Hart also conducted.

Ms Sladden said the review made 11 recommendations, all of which the scheme agreed with and was either already implementing or considering how to implement.

She said the scheme was committed to continuously improving how it worked, and the report would help in that effort.

“We know there are areas where we can improve as we grow in size and face increasingly complex cases, especially those relating to fraud and scams, which continue to make up a large share of our workload.

“We are in the middle of technology and process improvements that will strengthen our ability to analyse and draw insights from complaint data, and we will also continue to work with government agencies, regulators, banks and consumer groups to ensure fair outcomes in a cost-effective and transparent way.”