Financial dispute centre can improve engagement with consumers

I agree with the call for the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (Fidrec) to publish the results of adjudication, and for banks and insurers to have the same dispute limits ("Enhanced disclosure good for financial dispute resolutions"; March 2).

These will have a positive impact in raising public awareness and deterring misuse.

There are three other considerations that can lead to a higher level of education for both consumers and financial institutions.

First, efforts must be made to clarify the outcome of the decisions in layman's terms.

If the results are not comprehensible to the public, there will be a tendency to ignore them or misinterpret the adjudication results.

Second, if the cap for banks is not raised, it should be clearly communicated to the consumer during the sales process.

Third, Fidrec could be more proactive in creating awareness of issues, as consumers are likely to check with it only after a problem occurs.

Elaboration, proactiveness and clarity from Fidrec will encourage more transparency and consistency between both the financial institutions and the consumers in the years to come.

Rohith Murthy

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 15, 2016, with the headline Financial dispute centre can improve engagement with consumers. Subscribe