Complaints Handling Policy
Version 1
1. Introduction
This Policy outlines OKTOPAY UK LIMITED’s (the “Company”) approach to complaints handling, to ensure client concerns are treated adequately and that complaints are addressed promptly and in a fair and transparent manner. It details the requirements to ensure full compliance with our regulatory obligations and the highest possible standards of customer service to which the Company is committed in order to accomplish the above and therefore, adopts a comprehensive Complaint Policy.
This Policy is subject to the review and recommendation of the Chief Compliance Officer, and approval of the Board of Directors.
The Company is an EMD Agent of an Electronic Money Institution, PayrNet Limited, incorporated in England and Wales (company number: 09883437) with its registered office at “PayrNet, WeWork, 3 Waterhouse Square, 138 Holborn, London, EC1N 2SW, UK” which is an Electronic Money Institution (“EMI”) authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (“EMR 2011”) (register reference 900594) for the issuing of electronic money (“Payrnet”). Accordingly, the Company is serving customers of Payrnet as its EMD Agent and may be addressed with customer complaints as a result of its activities as an EMD Agent.
1.1 Objectives
The objective of this Policy is to embed an effective and efficient complaints management process within the Company. This Policy sets out Company’s requirements to support the Company’s commitment in providing products and services of high quality, as well as responsible and efficient service to its customers.
The Company seeks to maintain a reputation as a company delivering high quality professional services which is committed to maintaining its responsiveness to the needs and concerns of our clients.
The Policy is designed to provide guidance on the way in which the Company receives and handles complaints.
The objective of the Policy is to outline how the Company resolves complaints in an efficient, effective and professional manner to ensure we maintain our reputation as a professional firm responsive to client needs and concerns.
Efficient management of complaints enables us to identify problems and continuously improve our standards, services, and delivery.
1.2 Definitions
In this Policy, a complaint is defined as any written or oral expression of dissatisfaction in relation to the Company’s products and services or agreements concluded with the Company, addressed to any employee of the Company, claiming that the rights and / or legitimate interests of the person filing the complaint have been violated and asking for satisfaction of the claims.
Any person or organisation (the complainant) who is dissatisfied with a product or service provided by the Company or agreements concluded with the Company, for any reason, may contact the Company to complain. At times, complaints can be by way of negative feedback, which may not require a resolution or formal follow-up. While this type of feedback is valuable to the Company, the Policy does not apply to feedback of this nature.
Indicatively, the following can be a cause for complaint:
• Inconsistency of terms between pre-contractual information and the actual execution of a transaction;
• Insufficient, incomplete or incorrect information of the customer and creation of false expectations;
• Possible errors in processing transactions or executing customer orders and other handling errors;
• Delays or lower than expected level of service;
• Disagreement over the legality of terms of transactions or contracts;
• Absence of professional behaviour of staff.
1.3 Adherence to this Policy
This Policy applies to all employees of the Company. All units of the Company must comply with the requirements outlined in this Policy. The Company has adopted an effective control framework to ensure compliance with this Policy and respective procedures.
The Policy should be reviewed at least on an annual basis by Compliance Function.
1.4 Governance
The Board of Directors and Senior Management are responsible to communicate the business strategies and expectations. The units / employees involved in complaints management are responsible to act on the aforementioned expectations and their efforts should be led by enterprise governance and oversight.
Compliance Function shall be the controller of this Policy. Senior Management shall be responsible for the implementation of this Policy, in terms of resolving complaints occurring as part of the Company’s business activity. The Policy should be reviewed on an annual basis or more frequently, if required, by the Compliance Function.
This Policy should be posted on the Company’s internal and private shared document space. This Policy or summary thereof, shall be posted on the Company’s website www.oktowallet.com.
The Board of Directors and Senior Management should continually convey the importance of resolving complaints proactively and nurture a corporate culture that encourages employees to treat each complaint as an opportunity for improvement. All the units and branches of the Company must be aware of and comply with the requirements outlined in this Policy.
1.4.1 Role of Compliance Department
Compliance Function shall be the owner of this Policy. All inquiries and requests for revisions relating to any of the matters specified in the Policy should be addressed to the Compliance Function.
The Policy is intended to be an evolving document. As the Company and its operations evolve, it is anticipated that existing policies may require amendment, and new policies will need to be introduced. The Policy should be reviewed on an annual basis or more frequently, if required, to ensure it is kept up to date. All amendments, additions or deletions to the Policy should be properly documented and approved prior to implementation.
Compliance issues and risk derived from complaints analysis should be factored into the overall Annual Compliance Report provided to the Board of Directors.
The Compliance Function:
• Oversees the complaints management program;
• Identifies trends and focuses on regulatory requirements;
• Reports key complaints findings to the Senior Management and / or Board of Directors, if required;
• Leads and / or contributes to remediation efforts;
• Tracks, reviews, and signoffs on escalated complaints;
• Oversees and ensures delivery of complaint training suitable for business and operational activities throughout the organisation;
• Reviews and approves complaint staffing, processes, procedures;
• Reviews the Company’s responses to customers, when needed;
• Ensures the involvement of Legal Department when deemed necessary depending on the nature of the complaint;
• Monitors the timely reaction of the Company to customers’ complaints / requests.
2. Complaints Policy
The Company must ensure that the following principles are followed when dealing with complaints:
• Human rights shall be respected, and principles of fairness, reasonableness, objectivity and impartiality shall always be followed when dealing with complaints;
• Complaints shall be handled by a sufficiently competent employee who was not involved in the subject of the complaint;
• The complaints’ handling process shall be reasonably documented, and the Company shall at all times be able to demonstrate the scope and contents of the investigation if needed;
• The Company must avoid any conflicts of interest when handling the complaints and shall take all necessary measures to identify and solve any conflicts of interest.
The following cases shall not be considered as complaints and this Policy shall not be applied to:
• Complaints concerning activity for the performance of which the Company is not responsible;
• Complaints concerning the Company’s activity which is not regulated by the financial services’ laws and is not supervised by the supervisory authority (i.e., is not related to the provision of financial services).
In case the Company is not responsible for the performance of the activity indicated in the complaint, the Company shall still respond to the client within 3 (three) business days by indicating reasons for a refusal to accept and examine the complaint, as well as, if possible, specifying the institution responsible for dealing with such complaint.
3. Filling of Complaints
The filling of complaints and complaint handling is free of charge at the Company. Complaints shall be filed in English language.
Complaints may be filed through any of the following channels:
• Live meeting or recorded phone conversation with the Company’s employee or other representative. Where a conversation is not recorded, the client shall be suggested to file the complaint in one of the other ways;
• E-mail support@oktopay.eu
• In writing by submitting a complaint directly to the Company’s employee or by sending it to the Company’s registered office by regular or registered mail.
The complaint shall include the following information:
• Name of the client;
• Client’s contact details;
• Date of the complaint;
• Dispute matter;
• Other circumstances related to the complaint.
The Company shall in each case confirm to the client the receipt of the complaint.
4. Registration of Complaints
Effective system of controls and structure are the foundation for the safe, sound and compliant operation of the Company and are critical to the effectiveness of any enterprise compliance management program. Complaint data shall be analysed to identify weaknesses in controls, compliance violations, and the need for enhanced targeted testing. Complaints shall be identified, categorised, and recorded to evidence the Company’s remediation efforts. The Company should determine the root causes of a complaint and remedy ineffective controls.
The Company shall dispose an IT solution to monitor the received complaints and the remediation actions. Ideally, this solution would proactively identify potential complaints through predictive analytics.
All complaints received by the Company (including those received orally) shall be registered in the complaints log. Complaints shall be registered on their receipt date or the first following business day if the complaint was submitted at a non-business day or after the Company’s working hours. Complaints shall be recorded on electronic registers / archives. The Complaints Unit shall be responsible to archive the resolved complaints, in a manner that will facilitate a future check of the complaints handling process that was followed. For each complaint, at least the following information shall be stored on the complaints log:
• Name or legal name of the client;
• Address of the client indicated in the complaint or otherwise available to the Company;
• Date and manner of receipt of the complaint. In case of a recorded telephone conversation, the log shall give reference to the date and time of the call so that it was possible for the person assigned responsible for the handling of the complaint to access the relevant recording;
• Complaint registration number;
• Brief description of the substance of the complaint;
• Services or products complained about;
• Company’s employee appointed to handle the complaint;
• Date and for of the reply;
• Final result of the complaint investigation (resolution).
Registration of complaints in the complaints log and maintenance of the log shall be the responsibility of the Compliance Function. The log shall be maintained in electronic form.
5. Handling a Complaint
All complaints accepted by the Company shall be forwarded to a respondent, who will be responsible for the investigation of the complaints and preparation of the reply. Reply must be provided in a written form, i.e. in a paper form or any other durable medium , where so agreed by the Company and the client.
In the investigation, the respondent has the following rights:
• To collect and assess all documents / information needed;
• Analyse the historical data related to the client;
• Communicate with the client and ask for additional information if needed;
• Consult with other Company’s employees or, if needed and approved by the Company’s Senior Management – external lawyers.
Once a complaint has been received by a respondent, it must:
1. Investigate the complaint competently, diligently and impartially, obtaining additional information as necessary;
2. Assess fairly, consistently, and promptly;
3. Offer redress or remedial action when it decides this is appropriate;
4. Explain to the complainant promptly and, in a way that is fair, clear and not misleading, its assessment of the complaint, its decision on it, and any offer of remedial action or redress; and
5. Comply promptly with any offer of remedial action or redress accepted by the complainant.
6. Reply to the client
In case a complaint is submitted, the respondent must:
1. Send a final response in writing or using durable medium to the complainant by the end of 15 business days after the day on which it received the complaint; or
2. In exceptional circumstances, if a final response cannot be given for reasons beyond the control of the respondent:
a. send a holding response to the complainant by the end of 15 business days after the day on which it received the complaint, clearly indicating the reasons for the delay in answering the complaint and specifying the deadline by which it will send the final response; and
b. send a final response to the complainant by the end of 35 business days after the day on which it received the complaint.
Reply must include:
1. The outcome of the investigation;
2. Where applicable, terms of the redress or remedial action;
3. Where the complaint is not solved to the satisfaction of the client, motives and reasons for refusal to satisfy the claim;
4. Further remedies available for the client.
Where the complaint is submitted by a consumer, the reply shall also inform the consumer that if they remain dissatisfied with the final response, they shall have a right to apply to Payrnet directly. If the outcome of the complaint is not satisfactory to the consumer and the consumer is an eligible complainant, they have a right to take their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Eligibility criteria and information on the procedures involved are available from http://www.financialombudsman.org.uk.
Addressing the Company and Payrnet first is a precondition for the consumer taking the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
The clients must be informed of their rights under this Section of the Policy by the Company publishing this Policy or summary thereof on its website, as well as by including relevant provisions in the agreements concluded with the clients.
Below is a step-by-step procedure of handling of complaints:
A complaint is filled by a client through the available channels: orally, by telephone, by post, by e-mail
Distribution
The complaint is received by the Company’s employees categorised and distributed to the responsible unit based on its subject.
Complaints may be relevant to quality of products and services, transactions processing, company policies among others.
Research/analysis
The responsible unit and /or the complaint unit conduct investigation and root case analysis in order to identify the cause of the complaint.
Resolution/response
The responsible unit and /or the complaint unit resolve the underlined issue and inform the client regarding the result of the investigation and the final position of the Company within 15 days of the date the complaint was submitted to the Company.
Recording
All complaints and remedy actions are recorded and stored by the complaint unit in the complaints log. For each complaint, at least the following information shall be stored:
- Name or legal name of the client;
- Address of the client;
- Date and manner of receipt of the complaint;
- Complaint registration number;
- Brief description of the substance of the complaint;
- Services or products complained about;
- Company’s employee appointed to handle the complaint;
- Date and for of the reply;
- Final result of the complaint investigation (resolution).
Reporting
The Company shall keep a report on complaints received and submit such information to Payrnet upon request.
A complaint is filed by a client ->
The Company shall provide written responses to complainants within 15 business days following the date that the complaint has been received by the Company ->
If the customer (who is a consumer) remains dissatisfied with the final response of the Company, they shall have a right to apply to Payrnet directly. If the outcome of the complaint is not satisfactory to the consumer, they have a right to afterwards apply to the Bank of Lithuania. The consumers have the right to apply to the Bank of Lithuania also when Payrnet fails to respond to the consumer within 15 (fifteen) business days from receiving the complaint.
The client that is not a consumer may also approach the Bank of Lithuania by submitting a claim to the Bank of Lithuania directly.
7. Procedures and Training
Comprehensive policies, procedures, and training shall be established to ensure that all employees and third-party providers are aware of consumer protection laws and regulations and to deter or prevent compliance violations. The aforementioned policies, procedures, and training shall be routinely updated to incorporate new laws and regulations.
As required by the legislation framework, the Company shall establish a Complaints Unit which will be responsible for handling the complaints or at least monitor the actions of other responsible Units towards handling the complaints. All business units and employees shall be obligated to assist timely the Complaints Unit regarding complaints within their field of expertise and responsibility.
The Company shall inform its customers on the established procedures and channels through which complaints may be filed, in accordance with the effective legal framework.
The frontline shall be trained sufficiently and follow specific guidelines regarding the types of complaints which need to be handled at the point of service and the types of complaints which need to be escalated to the Complaints Unit.
Specific procedures shall be created for complaints management, indicatively:
• Available channels for filing complaints;
• Recording of complaints and responsibilities of the Company’s employees;
• Distribution of complaints to the responsible unit(s);
• Internal actions and skills for performing checks and collecting evidence;
• Collaboration and coordination between the different units, engaged in the process of handling complaints;
• Consultation between Compliance Function and Complaints Unit in view of response preparation;
• Involvement of Legal Department, when needed;
• Preparation and timely response to customers that filed complaints;
• Remediation actions (if necessary);
• Communication with Payrnet on complaints handling procedures.
The complaints shall also be categorised according to the manner they were submitted (oral complaints, complaints over the phone, written complaints by post, written complaints by e-mail and complaints through lawyers, mediators, regulatory or official bodies), and their subject (quality of products and services, transactions processing, policies / practices).
In case the complaint regards the processing of personal data by the Company, or the customer exercises any right provided by the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Company shall provide any response within one (1) month of the request receipt. That period may be extended by two (2) further months where necessary, taking into account the complexity and the requests volume. The Company shall inform the customer of any such extension within one (1) month of receipt of the request, together with the reasons for the delay.
8. Record, Monitoring and Reporting
The Company shall establish and maintain an internal single electronic database in which all complaints shall be recorded and kept under a unique tracking number.
The unique tracking number shall be referred to in all communication regarding the complaint from the financial institution to the complainant. All communication and other materials related to each complaint (including analysis and decisions taken by the Senior Management relating to the elimination of the operational deficiencies identified in handling of complaints procedures) will be kept in the database for five (5) years.
All the accompanying documents and materials, if not part of the database itself, shall be kept with the database and shall be easily accessible when requested by an authorised staff of the Company.
Monitoring is a proactive approach to identify procedural or training weaknesses and reporting of issues is essential to maintaining an effective oversight. Emphasis should be laid on the preparation of reports analysing the causes of complaints so that they can be avoided in the future. Complaint data shall be tracked, analysed, and reported at least annually to communicate potential areas of concern or non-compliance to Senior Management and all business lines. Potential regulatory complaints shall be appropriately escalated and monitored. All critical elements of customer relationships shall be connected in complaint tracking, thus creating a more holistic view. For this purpose, a tool that tracks cases shall be developed or purchased, creating centricities between systems of records.
The Complaints Unit shall monitor adherence to this Policy through regular monitoring and:
• Collect information on similar complaints relating to the same product or service, analyse this information in order to establish the main reasons of such complaints and priorities for elimination thereof;
• Assess if the circumstances giving rise to a certain type of complaints may also result in complaints relating to other services or products;
• Assess if reasons for the complaints can be eliminated and determine course of action for such elimination;
• Where applicable, eliminate the main reasons of the complaints being submitted, or initiate relevant processes for such elimination;
• Ensure that information on repetitive or systemic reasons of complaints are regularly provided to the management of the Company and Payrnet.
The Company’s Chief Compliance Officer shall collect information from the Complaints Unit on the complaints received during a reporting period and shall prepare a report to the Board of Directors including:
• Number of complaints received;
• Underlying causes of complaints;
• Products that complaints relate to;
• Information about similar complaints related to the particular services or products including systemic problems (information about the recurring or systemic reasons for the complaints);
• Other processes or products affected;
• Priority for corrective actions;
• Proposals for actions to be taken by the Company to eliminate underlying causes of complaints.
Having received and analysed the summary of information referred to above, the Senior Management shall:
• Assess whether underlying causes of certain complaints may cause complaints related to other services or products;
• Assess whether the underlying causes of the complaints can be eliminated, and make decisions on the proposed methods to eliminate them;
• If necessary, initiate actions to eliminate established underlying causes of the complaints.
The Company shall inform Payrnet as soon as reasonably possible but in any event by close of business on the next business day, if it becomes aware of a complaint being made against the Company or Payrnet relating to the Company’s business.
A record of each complaint received must be kept and the measures taken for its resolution and retain that record for at least five (5) years from the date the complaint was submitted.
