The Australian Financial Complaints Authority has confirmed it is receiving a flow of complaints from members of Australian Super after a bungled technology upgrade last month resulted in thousands of people losing access to their accounts.
Australian Super, which has copped a pummelling from members on social media for serving up degraded digital services since the second week of November, is still struggling to restore full transaction capability for most customers and to reconnect “some members” to their accounts.
The fund’s online customer service staff on Tuesday were unable to say when customers would be able to make online withdrawals from their accounts via the mobile and internet platforms.
The disillusionment of many customers is palpable on Australian Super’s Facebook page and the Whirlpool discussion forum.
Pension-phase members seem particularly alarmed by the technology overhaul-cum-meltdown and are threatening to move their retirement savings to alternative providers.
“I want to close my pension account immediately,” an exasperated member announced on Facebook on Tuesday.
“Please send me the necessary forms as they are not available online any more thanks to your stupidity.”
Another member said public confidence in the fund was being tested because the company was furnishing pension members insufficient information about what has gone wrong.
“It is unfortunate that Australian Super are not giving us the full story about the drawn out problems regarding online withdrawals for choice income accounts,” the member said on Facebook.
“This is undoubtedly causing a lot of anxiety amongst members and leading to a loss of confidence in the organisation.”
In public engagement with members on social media, the fund’s customer service staff continue to deploy carefully worded and vague responses to questions on when full access to digital services would be restored.
Customer staff and the fund’s media relations unit are also offering only vague insights into the magnitude of the tech calamity and avoiding meaningful and precise disclosure of the number of customers affected.
As the operational failure tripped into its fourth week on Monday, the fund’s best disclosure remained limited: that only “some members” had no access to their accounts.
An AFCA spokesperson told Banking Day that as of the close of business last Wednesday, the authority had received around 20 complaints from Australian Super members relating to the access problems caused by the technology overhaul.
However, most of these grievances are likely to be referred back to the fund because the authority is unable to accept cases where a financial institution has not been given 45 days to resolve disputes internally with customers.
“We can confirm that we received a number of complaints last month (November) relating to Australian Super and a technology upgrade,” an AFCA spokesperson said.
“Please note that fund members with a complaint are expected to lodge it first with the fund, which then has 45 days to address it internally.
“If we receive a complaint and the fund has not had an opportunity to consider it under its own internal dispute resolution processes, we refer it back to the fund so this can occur.
“As an ombudsman service we address individual complaints.
“We refer systemic issues to the relevant regulator if we see these arise in the course of our complaints work.”
Australian Super members are continuing to highlight a range of service faults with the new mobile and internet portals, including with an investment platform known as Member Direct.
This platform allows members to self-direct their superannuation investments when it is operating normally.
Members say they have lost money since the technology overhaul took effect three weeks ago because they have not been able to trade shares or adjust investment allocations between different asset classes.
Australian Super’s senior management last Tuesday conducted their annual online meeting where they answered what one attendee described as “robust” questions about the protracted technology failure from frustrated members.
A spokesperson for the fund said last week that a video of the Q & A session would be posted on the super provider’s website.
However, it had not been loaded by last evening – a full seven days after the meeting was held.
Members who were unable to attend the meeting told Banking Day they were keen to hear explanations given by the fund’s senior executives and trustees for the technology meltdown.
“It would be useful if the executives could share their thoughts and shine some light on this debacle as they did for those members who participated in the meeting,” one member said.
“It might even help them to look accountable.”