Respond to Excel in Complaints Management
Industry
Banking Challenges
» New regulations, including Consumer Duty, changing standards for case remediation
» Receiving an influx of DCA-related inquiries requiring attention
» In need of mechanism to handle feedback and dispute resolution
Benefits
» Unified complaints management system ensures accuracy of data
» Highly configurable interface allows for multiple workstreams
» More robust and flexible root cause analysis process implemented
Shawbrook just might be “the biggest bank you’ve probably never heard of.” It’s a UK-based specialist bank that offers competitive interest rates and easy access to financial services, including business and consumer loans, as well as savings products. Shawbrook has experienced significant growth in recent years by focusing on providing convenient financial solutions.
With that growth has come the need to deal with customer complaints in a more efficient and effective manner. So in 2018, the bank’s leadership wisely decided that the old method of case management—using a complicated spreadsheet that could be edited by many employees—needed to be replaced with a purpose-built solution.
Leveraging a Cloud Solution
Shawbrook’s decision-makers chose Aptean Respond, a leading complaints management system, with a cloud deployment on the Software as a Service (SaaS) model. Recently, the business has aimed to use the system to prepare the business for new requirements, such as the Consumer Duty rules introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
“Over the last year we’ve been going on a journey as a department to mature the way we manage risk.” said Fay Northcott, RCA, MI and resolution delivery manager at Shawbrook. “We’ve developed our use of Respond to support us in that.”
By reimagining processes such that all complaints management-related activities flow through the system and utilising the robust Configuration Manager and Quality Accelerator modules, the business is truly making the most of its investment in the software. Read on to learn more about Shawbrook’s use of Aptean Respond and how it’s helping the bank succeed in customer service and regulatory compliance.
Ensuring Accuracy of Data and Reliable Reporting
Moving away from managing complaints and case handling through Excel spreadsheets was an obvious first step toward maintaining data accuracy and safeguarding Shawbrook from risk. Considering that banking is a heavily regulated industry and penalties for non-compliance are often highly punitive, this was not an area in which the business could afford to cut corners.
“We know that using a spreadsheet, particularly for regulatory activity, is never a good idea,” said Fay. “If we give an auditor a number, we need to be able to confirm that it’s the right number. If that requires referencing several different parts of an Excel file, that’s obviously far from ideal, and certainly a lot more difficult than what we do now.”
Getting insight into trends and knowing where improvements could be made was also a challenge. Fay and her team found that complaints management processes could be improved at Shawbrook, and they knew that was something that needed to change right away.
“Reporting was very hard,” Fay said. “For instance, it would have been very difficult to see how many cases went to Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and their outcomes. Some of them might be on a spreadsheet, some of them might be missing because someone deleted a line or someone might’ve put the date in a different format. So reporting included a lot of manual work.”
With Aptean Respond in place, the bank and its staff have greater confidence that the data in front of them is correct and up-to-date. That allows them to leverage the reports that the system can generate to glean actionable takeaways that drive streamlined workflows and better outcomes for all parties involved.
“In terms of reporting, we have more assurance that the information is accurate,” said Fay. “Data integrity obviously is very important, so that’s a big win for us as well.”
Preparing for Consumer Duty Compliance
The FCA first published its new Consumer Duty rules and guidance on July 27, 2022. Since then, enforcement for new and existing financial products and services open to sale or renewal began on July 31, 2023, and enforcement for closed products and services is approaching on July 31, 2024.
Still, there remains a good deal of confusion as to what the rules actually require of firms, as the wording is subject to interpretation. What is clear is that the FCA aims to ensure “good” outcomes for consumers, the parameters for which are based on the Duty’s “Four Outcomes”—appropriate products and services; fair price and value; full consumer understanding; and proper consumer support.
There are also the Cross-Cutting Rules for acting in good faith, avoiding foreseeable harm and enabling customers to pursue their financial objectives. Furthermore, the Duty applies to all UK-authorised firms that offer investment services, consumer credit, deposit-taking or insurance.
Fay and her team experimented with different methods of sorting complaints received according to which of the Four Outcomes was relevant. They gathered as many metrics as possible but still weren’t entirely satisfied with their processes and results.
“Every business will have its own interpretation of what’s required. We’ve been on a bit of a journey with that.”
Fay Northcott RCA, MI and Resolution Delivery Manager at Shawbrook
With time, though, they realised that the way Shawbrook uses Aptean Respond to analyse and track root causes of complaints, in conjunction with field restrictions that could be put in place with the solution’s Configuration Manager, could help them more effectively account for Consumer Duty and demonstrate adherence to its principles.
“We know how our root cause categories split into the four pillars,” said Fay. “So in the background, where case handlers can’t see it, we’ve added a field restriction that automatically determines which pillar of Consumer Duty a case falls under based on the root cause.”
“So now, we can run a report to categorise all the complaints according to the Four Outcomes, and if we see that one area is more problematic, we can look at the issue in more detail and make changes to help us adhere to those requirements,” she continued.
Not only has this process made it easier to comply with Consumer Duty and provided Shawbrook with assurance during FCA audits—it’s also helped to facilitate continuous improvement of customer journeys and allowed their case handlers to be more efficient in their day-to-day tasks.
“If we had to go back to each case individually and assign them all a Consumer Duty principle, that could take an infinite amount of time depending on how many cases you’ve received or closed within a given month,” said Fay. “So that’s a big time-saver.”
Handling Diverse Workstreams With Aptean Respond
Beyond bolstering data integrity, another overarching goal of Fay and her team has been to funnel more—if not all—departmental processes through Aptean Respond. One way they’ve done that is by developing a query to handle inquiries related to Discretionary Commission Arrangements (DCAs).
“We saw an uptick in speculative DCA-related ‘complaints’ being received,” Fay said. “We realised that when you look at them, they’re not complaints—they’re requests for information, but not Data Subjects Access Requests (DSARs) either.”
“So we built a query that has allowed us to manage that work specifically. That’s going to save us a massive amount of time and headache come time for reporting for the first half of 2024,” she continued.
Shawbrook is also now using Aptean Respond to handle customer feedback, which is received through the bank’s website via the solution’s Self-Serve functionality. The addition of help text to provide guidance to case handlers in root cause analysis—a measure made possible by Configuration Manager—has also improved the business’s use of the system.
What’s more, when Fay and her team discovered that case handlers weren’t using the Quality Accelerator module optimally, they overhauled their quality control process so that reports accurately reflected case handler and manager performance. Now, they’re looking to implement a similar strategy with FOS cases and calls.
“We went back through the questions on the form, completely changed them and also changed what we consider to be a pass or fail in terms of resolving a complaint,” said Fay. “So we’ve definitely gotten a lot better at using the Quality Accelerator optimally, so much so that we’re looking to increase our use of it.”
Lastly, the Case Agent functionality of Aptean Respond has allowed Shawbrook to streamline first point of contact (FPOC) case handling, such that complaints can be resolved over the phone in a single interaction. That’s helping save the bank time and an average of £77 per case, not to mention enabling improved customer experiences.
Working With Aptean Support and Services
While Shawbrook is largely self-sufficient in how they use Aptean Respond, Fay is quick to point out that the positive developments in the business’s utilisation of the system, especially those that have fortified data integrity, have been made through collaborative effort with Aptean support and services professionals.
“When I was brought on board, ensuring accuracy of our data was at the top of my list of action items—we have to know what’s in our reports is correct and consistent,” she said. “Aptean has helped us massively with that.”
The changes to processes that the bank has implemented—including those for demonstrating compliance with Consumer Duty, the rollout of the Self-Serve feedback functionality on Shawbrook’s website and FPOC complaint resolution model—required working with Aptean employees to identify the best way to achieve the desired results. The relationship is characterised by open communication, active listening and proactive problem-solving.
It’s also clear to Fay that Aptean Respond is designed with its end-users in mind. It is intuitive, versatile and highly configurable according to the needs of the business. Structuring reports in Configuration Manager is simple, and they can be generated and disseminated automatically once they’re set up. It’s also allowed Shawbrook to excel in efficient and precise root cause analysis.
“Respond is great—the system is very multifaceted and easy to use,” she said. “We can satisfy a lot of stakeholders’ needs with just Respond. It’s even got me thinking about what else we do in the business that we could use it for—DSARs, Transforming Data Collection (TDC) and more.”
“They’re really supportive and understanding, and they take the time to understand our problems. We have our monthly check-in, but I feel comfortable messaging ad hoc and have done so.”
Fay Northcott RCA, MI and Resolution Delivery Manager at Shawbrook
Growing Together With a Trusted Provider
Fay and her team have enthusiastically embraced Aptean Respond as the ideal solution for all of Shawbrook’s complaints management processes. They’ve learned to make the system work for specific purposes and capture the information they need while conducting due diligence to prevent one tweak from resulting in an issue somewhere else.
“One thing we’ve learned—and we’re better at this now—is documenting changes as we make them,” Fay said. “You’ll often find, particularly when you build in restrictions, that when you make one change, you affect another area.”
“It comes back to that risk-minded approach. It’s about making sure that you assess the impact of any changes,” she continued. “Aptean has helped us develop that risk management culture.”
The business is poised to continue on its upward trajectory with a complaints management system that can support them in dealing with today’s challenges, as well as those of tomorrow. The partnership between Shawbrook and Aptean will help the bank expand its presence while remaining agile and resilient.
“Shawbrook has grown and will continue to grow,” said Fay. “We’ve probably made more adjustments to Respond and how we use it over the past few months as a result of decisions we’ve made strategically as a department.”
“So we’re bringing us along on a journey and holding ourselves to the standards that we’d expect to see of a bigger bank,” she concluded.
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