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“We define a vulnerable consumer as someone who, due to their personal circumstances, is especially susceptible to detriment, particularly when a bank is not acting with appropriate levels of care,” says banking ombudsman Reana Steyn. Factors that determine whether you are a vulnerable consumer include your age, life events (such a death, divorce, retrenchment or crime perpetrated against you), literacy levels and physical disabilities.
A case study in the banking ombud’s annual report for 2020 ties in with the vulnerable consumer policy. The 78-year-old complainant fell victim to fraud to the amount of R6,765.63 and immediately reported it to his bank.
Regulations are forcing banks to put you first
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There has been a shift among the major retail banks in adopting a more customer-centric culture and improvements in how they treat and service you. However, the banks are still failing consumers through poor service from call centres and not doing more to assist those whose accounts have been hacked by fraudsters.
This was revealed in a press briefing last week by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), which only relatively recently has taken on the task overseeing the market conduct of the banking sector.
The FSCA reported back on how banks were responding to new regulations imposed on them since the introduction in 2017 of the so-called “twin peaks” regulatory regime, under which their financial wellness is monitored by the Prudential Authority (within the South African Reserve Bank), but their market conduct now falls under the FSCA.