Financial Ombudsman: Services online uplift.

Overview

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) fairly and independently 'resolves disputes between consumers' and member financial services providers. Membership of the Financial Ombudsman Service is open to any financial services provider carrying on business in Australia. The dispute resolution processes cover financial services disputes including banking, credit, loans, general insurance, life insurance, financial planning, investments, stock broking, managed funds and pooled superannuation trusts.

Solution

Our work encompasses the specification and development of several applications for FOS.

• A Dispute Determinations Application - an online facility for FOS to manage determinations and the provision of these documents in PDF format to the general public via a searchable web interface

• A Jurisdiction Checker / E-Lodgement Application - a facility for the general public to submit formal complaints to FOS online, including upload of files and virus scanning;

• An Online Membership Application System - Web-based system to allow various member types to sign up online and pay their initial subscription;

• A Member Survey - Yearly custom survey to allow members to check and update business statistics which are used to determine fees

• A Member and Complaint Contact Search - Facility to search for details of FOS members

• Insurer Search - Facility to find an Insurer via searchable web interface

• A Stakeholder Portal - Secure Registration and Login module to allow various stake holder types to access information such as case details, invoices and board papers via a secure portal;

Outcome

• Improved productivity - less calls and manual processing by FOS staff

• Improved self-help - empower and encourage consumers to access information without interference of FOS staff member and at any time of the day

• The accuracy of the membership data improved dramatically and in record time

• The desired goals of transparency and effective communication were realised