As part of its efforts to protect individual customersآ’ rights and enhance the services provided to them, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Sunday announced the launch of an online portal for customers to file their complaints and appeals against local banks instead of in person at CBK headquarters.

In a statement, CBK announced that the new portal is designed for banksآ’ individual customers only to file a complaint or appeal to the Central Bank. This is done by filling out the designated form available on the Central Bankآ’s website if the individualآ’s bank had refused to provide one, or had not responded in writing to a customerآ’s complaint within 15 business days of receiving the complaint.

On the other hand, an appeal e-form is used if the customer is not satisfied with the bankآ’s response, provided that the customer uploads the relevant documents to verify whether the bank has followed the proper procedures.

The CBK added that the complaint process starts with filing a complaint against a bank on the designated form available in all banksآ’ branches or websites. Once a complaint is received, the bank must provide the customer with a dated copy of the complaint and an acknowledgment of receipt, and must provide a written response to the complaint within 15 business days of its submission.

If the complaint is received via registered mail or electronic mail, the bank must inform the customer in writing through the same channel, or a text message to the customerآ’s phone number registered with the bank.

The CBK statement indicated that the launch of the Customer Protection Unitآ’s online portal for receiving complaints and appeals from individual customers against banks aims to improve the process for handling complaints and appeals from banksآ’ customers.

The statement also confirmed that all CBK instructions and guidelines relating to filing complaints or appeals are published on its website and social media accounts.