The Banking Supervision Department introduces new standards for the provision of banking services

The Banking Supervision Department is publishing new draft guidelines that implement the Department’s view that the service provided to the banking system’s customers, through any communication channel, must be professional, available, and effective.

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Supervisor of Banks Yair Avidan: “Effective service and efficient and responsible communication between the banks and their customers support increased public trust in the banking system.  These elements are tremendously important in creating a positive customer experience when making financial transactions, and in generating benefit from the services and products offered to customers.  As part of the Banking Supervision Department’s vision to be a leading, professional, and proactive supervisor to benefit the public and the economy, we are continuing to steadfastly advance significant measures in the area of banking consumerism, which include clear and focused guidelines in the area of service to the customer.

 

“I am proud and excited to update the public regarding a draft directive that we have published today for comments.  This draft is a clear reflection of the “customer at the center” concept championed by the Banking Supervision Department, and sets out overriding principles that will serve as professional criteria for the provision of proper service to the customer.  I expect the banks to continue operating to advance a business environment and an organizational culture that will promote fair behavior toward customers, assimilate a proactive approach, and invest the proper resources to improve service to and support of customers, while “placing themselves in the customer’s shoes”, and that reflect the customer’s needs in the various interfaces with them.”

 

The main points of the draft directive:

The new draft directive anchors principles for the provision of service and support to the banking system’s customers through the various service channels, which the banking corporations must keep in mind during their regular operations and constantly strive to meet.  These principles reflect criteria for proper and fair behavior toward customers.

 

For this purpose, the draft directive sets out obligations in the field of corporate governance, the aim of which is to promote an organizational culture that emphasizes the quality and availability of service and support given to the customer.

 

The principles that are being set out deal with the following areas:

• The provision of optimal service to customers through a variety of service channels;
• Advancing effective communication between the banking corporation and the customer as part of the provision of service and support;
• Preventing barriers to the receipt of service, and preventing damage and deception;
• Ensuring the availability and high quality of the service and support array throughout the association with the customer;
• Adapting the service and support array to the customer’s needs;
• Providing proper service in a variety of channels.

 

The banking corporations are required to act to promote the principles methodically, constantly, and continually, while utilizing discretion and setting priorities in accordance with their importance to the customer, with an emphasis on household and small business customers.  The aim of this is to ensure that the service and support array for customers will provide an optimal response to the needs of all customers, and that the service and support provided to them have value.  In addition, the draft directive sets out requirements for the publication of information regarding the various service channels.

 

By way of background to the draft directive, we refer to a customer satisfaction survey recently conducted by the Banking Supervision Department, which shows that the issues of availability and quality of service are among the most significant issues in relations between the banks and their customers.  The findings of the household satisfaction survey, which was conducted in 2022, show that there has been a decline in satisfaction with the service provided by telephone call centers and at the bank branches, compared with the findings of the survey carried out in 2021.

 

We believe that the implementation of the directive will lead to an improvement in the quality of the service offered by the banking corporations, and thereby lead to improved customer satisfaction with the service given to them through the various interfaces with the banking system.