Comptroller John C. Dugan Highlights Important Role
Played by the OCC’s Consumer Complaint Function
WASHINGTON
— Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan today highlighted the OCC’s efforts
to assist national bank customers with questions and complaints, and said the
information gathered from that process has a direct impact upon bank
supervision and bank retail practices generally.
“Fair dealing with customers and prompt resolution of their
problems is, first and foremost, the bank’s responsibility,” and the OCC nearly
always suggests that customers contact their bank first, the Comptroller said
in a speech before the Exchequer Club and Women in Housing and Finance.
“Of course, that’s not always possible, or the
customer may already have done so without success,” Mr. Dugan said. “That’s when customers often turn to us. We receive as many as 70,000 contacts every
year from bank customers with questions or complaints. They run the gamut from simple questions
about grace periods or fees, to much more complex problems.”
To address consumers’ concerns more quickly and effectively,
“We have invested literally millions of dollars in sophisticated technology
both to aid in complaint intake and quality control, and to speed
communications between the OCC and banks,” Mr. Dugan said. In his presentation, the Comptroller used a
series of animated slides to demonstrate the technology that the OCC’s CAG
specialists use in handling complaints.
“Even more important,” the Comptroller added, “we have
invested in the people” who are well trained with backgrounds in consumer law,
compliance, and bank supervision.
In 1997, the OCC overhauled its customer assistance program
and renamed it the Customer Assistance Group under the charge of the OCC’s
Ombudsman, who reports directly to the Comptroller. Over the last five years, the Comptroller
noted, CAG has generated nearly $30 million in financial relief for national
bank customers, including $7 million in 2006.
As important as CAG is to individual bank customers, its
work also plays a prominent role in bank supervision.
“One important use is in the process of planning and
adjusting examinations, both as to timing and focus, to better target areas of
potential concern,” the Comptroller said.
“Examiners also use the information when developing their annual risk
assessments of banks. And CAG staff may
alert examiners if there are certain types of complaints that appear to warrant
further attention or if they see patterns emerging in the overall complaint
volume concerning a bank.”
Other parts of the agency use CAG data as well. “Our policy shop has used it to help
formulate guidance in areas such as use of third-party vendors, predatory
lending, and credit cards,” Mr. Dugan said.
“And when we see individual complaints or patterns of complaints that
could indicate inappropriate or unfair or deceptive practices, OCC lawyers are
called in. We can and we have taken enforcement action to correct practices
that we found to be unfair or deceptive.”
While the OCC effectively and efficiently handles customer
concerns once the issues reach the agency, the Comptroller acknowledged that
customers face difficulty getting their concerns to the right regulator because
it is difficult to know whether a depository institution is a bank or a thrift,
or has a state or national charter.
“That’s why I am so pleased that the OCC and the Conference
of State Bank Supervisors agreed just two months ago on a model Memorandum of
Understanding to facilitate the sharing of complaints between the OCC and state
agencies,” Comptroller Dugan said.
The MOU allows the OCC to direct non-national bank
complaints to the appropriate regulatory agency, preserves customers’ privacy,
and allows state officials to get periodic reports regarding the disposition of
complaints they refer to the OCC. New York was the first state to sign the MOU with the OCC
followed by Arizona and North Dakota.
“My fervent hope and expectation is that other states will do the same in the
weeks and months ahead,” the Comptroller said.
The OCC Customer Assistance Group is available to answer questions
from national bank customers from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Eastern time,
Monday-Friday, at 1-800-613-6743, or by sending an e-mail to Customer.Assistance@occ.treas.gov.
Related Links
·
Remarks before the Exchequer Club and Women in Housing and Finance (http://www.occ.gov/ftp/release/2007-4a.pdf)
·
Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan (http://www.occ.gov/dugan.htm)
·
OCC Customer Assistance Group (http://www.occ.gov/customer.htm)
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Office of the Comptroller of the Currency was created by Congress to charter
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assure that national banks are safe and sound, competitive and profitable, and
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