D. How OBSI Works

• Author: M.H. Ogilvie
• Profession: LSM, B.A., LL.B., M.A., D.Phil., D.D., F.R.S.C. Of the Bars of Ontario and Nova Scotia Chancellor's Professor and Professor of Law, Carleton University
• Pages: 407-411

Page 407

When a customer of a bank or any other financial institution has a problem with a banking transaction, the first step is to raise the issue with the local branch, first with a staff member designated to resolve issues and then with the local branch manager, who has authority to resolve issues commensurate with the authority of a branch manager in that bank. If the customer is not satisfied with the manager’s proposed resolution, then the customer or the manager, at the customer’s request, may take the matter to a designated higher officer of the bank, either through a 1-800 number or some other form of communication

Page 408

at the customer’s discretion. If the customer is still unhappy, the third step within the bank is to contact the bank’s own ombudsman, whose contact information is provided by a brochure required to be available at the branch, including address, fax, email, and 1-800 number. The bank ombudsman will attempt to provide a resolution within a week or two or will advise of the steps being taken to secure a resolution within the same time period. The bank ombudsman typically is part of the immediate office of the president and reports directly to the president of the bank, but otherwise is independent from the everyday operations of the bank. At all three steps, the process is characterized by informality: complaints may be made orally or in writing, and corrections may be made immediately; there is no need for legal or other third party representation; and the aim is to be consumer friendly. Bank staff attend staff training programs to facilitate the goal of an informal and speedy resolution.

If the complainant is a small business, neutral mediation is offered by the bank. Participation is voluntary, and the cost is designed to be attractive to a small business, but if no resolution results, then the small business, like the individual consumer, may take the final step outside the bank by filing a complaint with OBSI, whose contact information is also provided by the bank.

Before OBSI will consider a complaint, certain requirements must be satisfied: (i) the complaint is made by the complainant, or a personal representative of the complainant, to whom the banking service was supplied; (ii) all the persons entitled to make that claim are complainants; (iii) the complainants are individuals or small business customers; (iv) the internal bank processes have been exhausted; (v) the complaint is made within 180 days of the internal proposed solution; (vi) the complaint was not contained in a previous complaint unless new evidence is available in the opinion of the Ombudsman; (vii) neither the complaint nor any other complaints by the same complainant are subject to any other dispute resolution process, including in any court of law unless the bank consents in writing to the Ombudsman; (viii) the complainant has waived the duty of confidence owed to the complainant as a customer; and (ix) the complaint is not frivolous, vexatious, or being pursued in a threatening manner.¹⁴

The Terms of Reference exclude three categories of dispute over which the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction: (i) complaints about the bank’s general interest rates, prices for products and services, general industry policies, and credit-granting policies or risk-management poli-

Page 409

cies;¹⁵(ii) complaints which the Ombudsman decides are more suitably adjudicated in a court of law or in some other dispute-resolution process;¹⁶and (iii) complaints relating to a practice or policy of a bank that does not give rise to a breach of any obligation or duty owed by the bank to the complainant.¹⁷

To ensure that a complaint falls within OBSI’s jurisdiction, OBSI may consult with both complainant and...