Responding to Client Complaints at Tameer Bank, Pakistan

This interview of Tameer Bank's (Tameer) Murium Hadi by Zahra Khalid of the Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN), one of the Smart Campaigns network partners, discusses Tameer's approach to handling customer complaints through the establishment of the Tameer Customer Service Unit (CSU). The CSU is in line with the Smart Campaigns client protection principle and mechanisms for complaints resolution, which state that institutions should have a formal, systematic mechanism for receiving client complaints, respond to client complaints in a timely manner, and use information from those interactions to improve operations. Tameer's CSU uses preemptive, outbound calls to monitor and address customer complaints, and verify client data before disbursing loans. The interview highlights that call centers:

• Help clients feel that they have a voice at the bank;
• Ensure that client complaints are resolved promptly and they have a good experience with the institution;
• Are financially beneficial to institutions;
• Can also be used for cross selling products;
• Can reduce operating costs by routing customer complaints away from busy branch offices toward a small, specialized team of staff who can provide answers;
• Can generate long-term savings.