Empathy pays dividends, banks discover

A live pilot has been ongoing since the end of 2019, where banks make efforts to understand the personal circumstances of each SME, appoint a customer champion to each case to help customers identify the most important documents, and take account of their preferred means of communication. It has taken on board more than 40 complaints from SMEs so far, some stemming from the 2008 financial crisis.

The Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS), a coalition of seven banks and other stakeholders who are running the pilot, published its interim findings in a report this week. It concluded that the findings indicate that the system needs to be reformed to take the stress and acrimony out of disputes.

According to the report, ‘the BBRS team initially focusses on conversations by phone to interact with customers and learn about the individual complaints, rather than burdening customers with filling in lengthy complaint forms at the very outset.

‘The emphasis is on balancing the need for collecting enough vital information about the complaint as early as possible while not losing the human touch and treating customers with empathy.’ The team also recognises the extra stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the devastating impact this is having on business activity.

Lewis Shand Smith, the BBRS independent Chair, said: ‘It has never been more important for British businesses to get fair treatment from their banks.

‘Doing so will, in turn, safeguard the reputation of the sector. The BBRS will play a vital role in making sure this happens. In establishing our service, we have recognised the need for a deep rethink of the way disputes between SMEs and their banks are handled.

‘The live pilot is adopting a human and flexible approach, as an alternative to the stress and cost of seeking to resolve complaints through the courts.’

Alexandra Marks, Chief Adjudicator at the BBRS, said: ‘We have been discovering a lot about some difficult and often distressing cases, and the importance of handling these sensitively as well as fairly.

‘When dealing with disputes it is not possible to please everyone all of the time, but our ambition as an independent organisation is to reach fair and reasonable outcomes which bring closure to both parties.’

Find out more at: https://thebbrs.org.

Read the report, ‘Live pilot: interim findings’, at: https://staging-thebbrs.kinsta.cloud/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/BBRS_Live_Pilot_Interim_Report_15_05_2020.pdf.