Finance transformation
Nicola Wadham (pictured) says the FOS needs to react to financial product demand, regardless of the drivers.
“Financial products are constantly being developed, and the environment in which they are sold also changes, for example in periods of austerity,” says Nicola Wadham, CIO at the FOS. “As an organisation we need to react to the demand, no matter what the drivers are.” “The challenges this creates for the technology function are to be able to provide early insight into the changing nature of demand to our caseworkers, and to provide relevant case progress information for our customers, so their experience of our service is positive,” she adds.
“[Customer portals] will provide more choice and flexibility for consumers, although we will continue to support our existing channels to ensure that we remain an accessible organisation for all.”
Demand drivers 454,259
The number of new enquiries the Financial Ombudsman Service dealt with for the financial year 2020/21.
FOS 22
Documenting and investigating cases against financial services organisations is a highly detailed process and, for many years, was largely paper- based. Each case is investigated by experienced personnel, but a document-heavy workload means that progress can be slow. There is a clear opportunity, therefore, to digitalise and automate as much of the workload as possible in order to leave the human element to its key function of decision-making.
“The Financial Ombudsman Service is a demand- led organisation and complaint volumes do fluctuate,” says Wadham. “Over the past decade, we saw a huge increase in complaints about Payment Protection Insurance or PPI, and this prompted the move away from paper-based processes.” Now, the FOS is helping customers deal with losses arising from authorised push payment (APP) systems, also known as bank transfer scams, in
which customers knowingly or unknowingly transfer money from their own bank account to one belonging to a criminal. For example, such a scam may come in the form of a fraudulent email purporting to be from a bank’s fraud team. Digitalisation will help the FOS to address such cases more swiftly, but will also be particularly important at a time when the financial services industry is in the midst of its own revolution, with a plethora of products available and a host of new market entrants, predominantly fintech companies, bringing them to market.
“The FOS is a free and easy-to-use service that settles complaints between consumers and businesses that provide financial services,” Wadham explains. “We resolve disputes fairly and impartially, and have the power to put things right. So, based on that, I wouldn’t say fintech, per se, has made the Ombudsman more or less important. What it has done is increase the range of financial products that we deal with.”
It was PPI that led to the FOS expanding rapidly – from around 300 staff at its launch in 2001 to its current roster of 4,000 – and the demand led to the initial move away from paper-based processes. Its first technology revamp saw it develop an in-house case management solution based on SQL Server, Microsoft’s relational database management system. Now that the tide of PPI claims is receding, it is the emergence of fintechs that is driving demand and serving as a catalyst for further IT transformation. It is this programme that Wadham, who joined the FOS at the end of 2019, is charged with delivering, along with a team of 180 in the organisation’s IT department. “At present, our biggest shift will come from digitalising our communication channels by introducing customer portals – for both businesses and consumers,” she remarks. “This will provide more choice and flexibility for consumers, although we will continue to support our existing channels to ensure that we remain an accessible organisation for all.”
Finance Director Europe /
www.ns-businesshub.com
FOS
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