AFCA unveils new dispute resolution platform

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist, Financial Newswire

22 November 2021

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has launched a new digital platform to assist financial members to improve their management of disputes reported to the ombudsman service.

The AFCA Member Benchmarking Dashboard aims to give financial firms a better understanding of their complaints and how quickly they are being resolved, with an interactive platform that is updated daily and shows near real-time complaints data.

Firms can also compare their performance against an anonymised set of similar financial firms through the platform.

David Locke, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Ombudsman of AFCA, said the dashboard is a significant milestone that will help financial firms to reduce complaints from customers.

“Using the new dashboard, AFCA members can investigate the types of complaints they receive, how well they respond to disputes, and how their performance compares to other firms in their industry,” Locke said.

“By providing members with greater data and insights, we hope to help financial firms improve customer service and minimise disputes.”

Locke also said the new tool will elevate AFCA’s important role in handling complaints that are escalated to the ombudsman service and improving industry practice.

“As an external dispute resolution provider, AFCA’s primary role is to resolve complaints. However, we also have a responsibility to encourage best practice, so firms receive fewer complaints in the first place,” he said.

The dashboard will be announced today at AFCA’s Member Forum, a two-day virtual event held bi-annually for AFCA members to communicate directly with AFCA decision makers about complaints trends and dispute resolution case studies.

The dashboard will be released to AFCA members in phases during November and December this year.