AFCA announces ‘milestone’ platform to address dispute resolution

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority’s (AFCA) has described its digital member benchmarking dashboard as an interactive platform that provides near real-time complaints data and is updated daily.

The dashboard provides a clearer understanding of complaints and how quickly they’re being resolved.

AFCA chief executive and chief ombudsman David Locke said the new platform is a “significant milestone” and will help firms reduce customer complaints.

“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,” Mr Locke said.  

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

The dashboard is currently only available to AFCA member firms, however the ombudsman will continue to provide complaint insights through its free AFCA Datacube.

Mr Locke said the new platform is designed to improve industry practice and how it handles complaints that are escalated.

“As an external dispute resolution provider, AFCA’s primary role is to resolve complaints,” he explained.

“However, we also have a responsibility to encourage best practice, so firms receive fewer complaints in the first place.”

The platform will be rolled out to members throughout this month and December.

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.