Citigroup attracts more than its share of complaints
Citigroup seems to stand out from the pack when it comes to complaints from customers received by the Banking and Financial Services Ombudsman. There were 325 cases relating to Citi dealt with by the BFSO in the financial year to June 2008, with only the big four banks receiving more complaints. Citigroup resolved 95.4 per cent of cases early in a median time of 60 days. Commonwealth Bank had the most complaints with 843. Of those, 91.8 per cent were resolved early with a median resolution time of 42 days.NAB came second with 690 complaints, of which it resolved 94.1 per cent early, with a median resolution time of 40 days,Ninety-three per cent of ANZ's 615 complaints were resolved early for a median time of 47 days. Westpac recorded a 94.2 per cent early clearance rate on its 496 complaints for a median resolution time of 51 days.St George seemed not to cope quite so well with resolving complaints. It had 248 complaints of which it resolved 89.5 per cent early with a median early resolution time of 57 days.PayPal's 71 disputes up to June 30 will not include any complaints that may have come in from buyers caught up in the eBusiness Supplies collapse. eBay's unpopular 'PayPal only' project would also fall outside the jurisdiction of the BFSO. PayPal had an early clearance rate of 93 per cent but must have a handful of long-running disputes dragging its median resolution time frame out to 68 days.Other member institutions with more than 100 complaints include American Express at 145 with an early resolution rate of 98.6 per cent, BankWest with 151 (95.4 per cent resolution rate, median time of 61 days), GE Money -with 189 complaints (94.2 per cent, 71 days), HSBC with 132 complaints (90.9 per cent and 55 days) and Suncorp with 122 complaints (91.8 per cent and 71 days).