Two national banks with Fairfield County ties ranked among the top five most complained-about banks by deposits, according to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau data.
For every billion dollars in deposits, about 6.1 people filed complaints about RBS Citizens Financial Group and about 5.7 people filed complaints about GE Capital Retail Bank, according to an analysis by the consumer rights group CONNpirg.
By any standard, the ratio is small. But it still puts the two within the top five most complained-about banks, following TCF Bank, Sovereign Bank and Capital One.
Established in 2010 in the wake of the financial collapse, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau identifies unfair financial practices and regulates the institutions that use them. Since the federal bureau began collecting data in 2012, consumers have filed more than 19,000 complaints about bank accounts and other financial services.
In the last year and a half, consumers have filed 1,259 complaints about RBS Citizens, split between several different issues. As of July, about 19 percent had issues with account opening, closing, or management; 16 percent had problems when funds were low and another 13 percent filed complaints about making deposits and withdrawals.
RBS Citizens is headquartered in Rhode Island, while its parent company, Royal Bank of Scotland, maintains its American headquarters in Stamford where it employs about 2,000 people.
Of the 2,363 complaints about GE Capital Retail, the largest areas of complaints related to billing disputes (16 percent), interest rates (7 percent), late fees (7 percent) and credit reporting (6 percent).
The bank, a sub-company of Norwalk-based GE Capital, is best known for providing in-store credit cards.
Dori Abel, a spokesperson with GE Capital Retail Bank, said the bank closely works with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and regularly analyzes its compliant database for the bank”™s own uses.
“It”™s something we do look at,” Abel said, mentioning the amount of complaints on the database only amounts to .005 percent of the 50 million accounts under GE Capital Retail management.
“We prefer no complaints,” Abel said. “But we do take complaints very seriously. Every complaint is an opportunity for improvement.”
Whether complaints arise on the database or through the bank”™s own systems, every complaint is resolved eventually, Abel said. But with the new database serving as an outlet for complaints, Abel said the company has noticed more people flocking to the bureau before contacting the bank directly. In 2012, about a third of all complaints had not been brought up with the bank first and so far this year two thirds have not contacted them.
“We would like to drive folks to work with us first, obviously,” Abel said. “We”™re always trying to improve our customer experience.”
Established in 2010 in the wake of the financial collapse, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau identifies unfair financial practices and regulates the institutions that use them. Since the federal bureau began collecting data in 2012, consumers have filed more than 19,000 complaints about bank accounts and other financial services.
