'Financial firms must think about their treatment of consumers'
Financial firms such as credit card providers should think about improving their treatment of consumers, according to Which?.
'Financial firms must think about their treatment of consumers'”
Which? personal finance campaigner Phil Jones suggested consumers should be given more information about which firms are being complained about and what sorts of complaints are being made.
This will enable them to make more informed decisions about which financial products - such as credit cards - to choose when they are shopping around, Mr Jones suggested.
His comments follow the release of figures by the Financial Services Authority which show a rise in the number of complaints against banks.
The sector that received the greatest number of complaints was Cash Isas, which increased from 8,700 to 39,250 when comparing the first six months of 2006 with the last six months of 2008.
"It's a poor reflection on the industry that there are so many unhappy customers out there. Financial firms simply aren't treating consumers well enough and things must change if the industry is to rebuild its reputation," Mr Jones commented.
This was the first time the FSA has published aggregate figures showing the number of complaints regulated firms had received and how they were dealt with.
The decision to release the information is part of the FSA's commitment to publishing more data about firms and industry sectors.
Posted by Jack Ramsay
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