LETTER | Many still unaware of Ombudsman for Financial Services

LETTER | Do Malaysians know that there is an independent body called Ombudsman for Financial Services (OFS) that provides alternative financial dispute resolution service to consumers in Malaysia for free and away from the courts?

 We believe Malaysians are familiar with agencies such as AKPK, Biro Bantuan Awam (BPA) and Fomca etc. We are from a similar circle of agencies that also assist consumers in need. Unfortunately, a substantial number of people in Malaysia are still unaware of OFS.

The OFS is a non-profit organisation and we are regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). The OFS was formerly known as the Financial Mediation Bureau (FMB) and commenced its operations in 2005. 

We were appointed as the operator of the Financial Ombudsman Scheme (FOS) approved by BNM in 2016 pursuant to the Financial Services Act 2013 and the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013.

We resolve disputes between financial consumers and our members, the financial service providers such as banks, insurance companies, takaful operators as well as e-money issuers who are licensed or approved by BNM. 

We also add value to the improvement in the complaint handling process of the financial service providers by regularly sharing our observations and insights with them.

Since our operationalisation in 2016, we have attended to almost 50,000 enquiries and complaints of which 4,802 financial disputes were registered as eligible cases and were resolved by OFS in 2020.

Top complaints handled in 2020:

• Life/medical and family takaful claim disputes
  
  
• Credit/debit card and internet banking issues primarily on unauthorised transactions due to SCAM during the MCO period
  
  
• Travel insurance disputes caused by travel restrictions due to Covid-19
  
  
• Motor Insurance – own damage claim

Please do visit our website to know more about OFS. 

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.