Respond Now – The Key to SME RG 271 Compliance

RG 271 has been a game changer for the Australian financial services sector. It represents the strictest, most enforceable guidance to come out of ASIC to date. Failure to comply doesn’t only lead to reputational harm but can also invoke civil action and / or a fine of up to $11 million (AUS).

So, it’s hardly surprising that smaller businesses in particular are seeking to mitigate against the risk of non-compliance, looking to implement the right technology to help navigate their way to RG 271 compliance.

In light of this, what are the different options available and which is the best approach?

Build Custom Applications In-House

Traditionally, building custom applications in-house has been the preferred approach for firms when it comes to compliance. That’s not to say it’s the best approach, often proving costly, time-consuming and difficult to implement. You also need full-time staff to test and debug the core solution, going on to take care of system updates as and when needed, which equates to an additional expense incurred to not only maintain but future-proof the solution. Ultimately, you need to question the value of building and maintaining a solution specifically for complaints management, when complaints aren’t the primary focus of your business.

Customise Existing CRMs or Ticketing Systems

Another common approach is to customise existing customer relationship management (CRM) systems and ticketing systems. While this can seem commercially viable in theory, more often than not, you will discover that it’s not as effective in practice.  CRMs might have some capability to record complaints, but the primary focus of a CRM solution is to manage customer relationships from a sales and marketing perspective. Same goes for ticketing systems. They’re simply not cut out to manage the often-nuanced complexity of customer complaints, particularly when it comes to supporting the event-driven processes that are a core component of RG 271 compliance.

With this approach, your team will most likely spend more time on admin and workaround tasks than on achieving complaint resolutions. You run the risk of ending up with a solution that doesn’t do what it should, and a solution that’s resource and cost heavy to maintain—with little or no ROI for your business.

Invest in a Complaint Management System

A dedicated complaint management system can represent best practice when it comes to securing effective outcomes and regulatory compliance. But, for smaller firms, it’s not always that easy. Typically, top shelf products are designed and built for larger enterprises, with a price point to match. The offering isn’t aligned to support the needs of smaller firms, which, combined with a lengthy procurement process, means they simply aren’t an option for smaller businesses. In their quest to achieve compliance, some businesses have settled for non-reputed or inexperienced vendors, resulting in ineffective solutions with limited support and maintenance.

A Solution Designed for Smaller Financial Services Firm

That’s not to say that all complaint management solutions are created equal. At Aptean, we recognised that more of our customers were looking for a solution to provide the functionality to fulfil their RG 271 responsibilities. Our Respond Now packaged offering includes a pre-configured RG271 compliant complaint management solution, deployed and delivered via the Respond SaaS platform, at a price specifically designed to align with the budgets and requirements of smaller businesses.

With a 14-day go-live for unlimited users, in combination with consultancy support and end-user training, Respond Now comes out-of-the-box with RG 271 prescribed data dictionary, complaint intake process, complaint resolution process, SLAs and timeframes, reports, and letter and email templates. And, better still, version upgrades and access to the Aptean support desk are included.

What this means is the right solution to enable RG 271 no longer has to be cost-prohibitive. Respond Now is here, delivering the specific functionality required for smaller financial services business to manage compliance responsibilities. It’s this accessible, affordable and effective technology that will make sure there’s a level playing field for Australian financial services businesses of all sizes when it comes to RG 271, underpinning robust compliance while ensuring the best possible outcomes for customers every time.

Watch our recent webinar to learn how Aptean Respond helped Claim Central Consolidate achieve RG 271 compliance and complaints excellence. Alternatively, you can contact us today to see how our complaint management system, Aptean Respond, can help with all your compliance requirements.