THE FINANCIAL institution involved should be the first point of contact and not the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in case of transaction issues, a government official said.
During the Media Information Session on Financial Consumer Protection Act last March 21, Rochelle Tomas, acting director of the BSP-Consumer Protection and Market Conduct Office, said that although they can address concerns involving financial institutions, people still should follow the proper procedure.
“Because the BSP does not have a view of those transactions. Those are managed and done by your financial institution where you have your account,” Tomas said.
She explained that based on the Republic Act No. 11765 or the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act (FCPA), the first level of recourse for aggrieved consumers is the Financial Consumer Protection Assistance Mechanism of the BSP-Supervised Financial Institutions (BSFI).
These institutions include banks, non-stock savings and loan associations, pawnshops, money changers, remittance agents, e-money issuers, and money service businesses, among others, that are under BSP supervision.
Tomas said that generally, consumer disputes involving financial products and services sold, offered, or marketed by a BSFI are within their power to intervene under the BSP-Consumer Assistance Mechanism.
She added these institutions are required to address public complaints under the law, while the BSP is the second level of recourse.
“Kapag di nila na-address [or] hindi kayo happy sa pag-address nila sa inyong concern (If they couldn’t address or you are not satisfied with the way they addressed your concern), then that’s the time that you can escalate to us,” she said.
Tomas revealed that 75% of the 45,000 complaints they received nationally were resolved through CAM. Part of their monitoring is to check the conversations between the BSFI and the client to determine how the concerns are addressed.
Meanwhile, BSP Mindanao Regional Office OIC Jason Capocao disclosed that they received about 100 queries or complaints in Mindanao, usually about scams, banking policies, and banking fees that can be resolved through communication.
