FS : Have any been suspended in your area

[onlyanother30years]

Looks like FS have been turning 1x £1000 bond into 2 x £500 bonds to meet targets etc.
Any FS been suspended in your areas for mis-selling like this.

[FinancialSpecialist]

I found the whole debate and conference call really confusing. I don't know any FS who have been suspended, but we are all confused about what exactly has happened and it seemed like those taking the call were confused as to what is compliant and what isn't.

As far as I could hear, at one point it was suggested that if a customer walked into branch with £25k cash, then 25 bonds should be opened but that the customers wishes should be noted on the customer review from.

Today, a "question and answer" email was sent out explaining that a customer could not present more than £1000 in cash in one day to open savings, even if they were opening different types of accounts. I, along with my colleagues were not aware of this. We thought that if a customer had £2000 in cash that they could open an Instant Saver and Growth Bond, for example.

There definitely are FSs out there who open multiple accounts for customers when one would suffice, at the customer's expense. However I think these are extremely few and far between and the whole thing has been blown totally out of proportion.

It should have been dealt with in a much more sensitive and measured way, by suspending those who needed investigation and having a coherent conference call outlining the correct procedures for dealing with cash purchases and multiple sales of savings products. Instead it created panic and confusion - the people who were taking the conference call, who were tasked with spreading the correct policies instead made mistakes and spread a non complaint message themselves, later backtracked upon through follow up emails.

[capitalbiker]

"It should have been dealt with in a much more sensitive and measured way, by suspending those who needed investigation and having a coherent conference call outlining the correct procedures for dealing with cash purchases and multiple sales of savings products. Instead it created panic and confusion - the people who were taking the conference call, who were tasked with spreading the correct policies instead made mistakes and spread a non complaint message themselves, later backtracked upon through follow up emails."

Anyone who has beeen in the PO for any length of time will have their own catalogue of issues such as this, POL doesnt do ' more sensitive and measured way', sledgehammer everytime, "tasked with spreading the correct policies instead made mistakes and spread a non complaint message themselves, later backtracked upon through follow up emails." yup just another episode in getting it right first time, cock up and letters are sent out because a letter or packet ends up in the wrong bag!

[kathleen1]

Looks like FS have been turning 1x £1000 bond into 2 x £500 bonds to meet targets etc.
Any FS been suspended in your areas for mis-selling like this.

We had an ABM who opened 10 growth bonds for £1000 each in cash, the customer an elderly man was in our office for more than an hour, the staff told him he couldn't do this because of money laundering regulations but he was a very arrogant man who went ahead saying "It would make him look good because he has sold ten bonds " the customer was not aware of this he was investing for the same length of time for each one. About two weeks later the Bank of Ireland sent it all back which was a total embarassment for the staff who had served him for many years. Guess what that ABM doesn't work for us anymore I find it quite amusing when people say its not common practice in our branches.... yeah whatever if you want to bury your head in the sand so be it, its been going on for years always remember targets lead to desperation from sales staff which then leads to mis-selling.

[subbie]

Performance related pay always will encourage such conduct.

subbie

[FinancialSpecialist]

It is possible to achieve targets without breaking the rules. I have never opened multiple bonds for a customer where this has not been their desire, e.g. they were receiving money on different dates, or they had a legitimate reason for doing so. This practice would not be allowed in my branch.

I do know of cases where it has happened with other FS (as discussed at meetings) but I think it is disadvantageous to the customer and makes the PO look hungry for sales and not care about the customer. By doing what is right for the customer, they will keep coming back and there won't be the need to be underhand about things.

[paulpg36]

There would be no point in doing this in a sub post office as we get paid on the value not the number of bonds opened. This was changed about 2 years ago to stop this type of behaviour. Why should it be differnet in a Crown office as the important thing to the business is the amount invested not the number?

[FinancialSpecialist]

I was not aware of that. I thought the reason we got paid per product, was to ensure that we were treating customers fairly, e.g. we will treat someone with £500 in the same way as we would treat someone with £500k. It is also fairer for lower income area branches as it puts them on a more even playing field with high income area branches as they are not penalised due to their customer's wealth or lack of it.