Bank of Ghana Records 29% Drop in Customer Complaints for 2023
The Bank of Ghana, in its 2023 Complaints Management Report, disclosed a notable decrease in customer grievances, receiving a total of 695 complaints from clients of banks, specialized deposit-taking institutions (SDIs), other financial institutions, and payment systems and service providers.
This figure, per the report, represents a 29% reduction from the 983 complaints lodged in 2022, contrasting with a 15% increase in the previous year – 2021.
Of the 695 complaints received, 458 (66%) were resolved, while 237 (34%) remained unresolved at year-end. According to the Bank, the complexity of complaints made by customers grew necessitating extended resolution times.
The 66% resolution rate, however, signifies a marginal improvement over the 64% resolution rate achieved in 2022.
The decline in complaints the Central Bank noted, was broad-based, with banks, savings and loan institutions, and finance houses reporting decreases of 25%, 46%, and 60% respectively.
Banks continued to lead in the number of complaints, accounting for 51.4% (357) of the total, with a resolution rate of 77%.
Unresolved complaints were predominantly linked to customers’ difficulties in recovering matured investments and deposits from savings and loan companies, finance houses, and microfinance institutions.
These constituted 54% (128) of the unresolved complaints. The remaining 46% (109) were at various stages of resolution as of the end of the reporting period.