30th June 2004 Poor organisation and management of information is costing UK financial service providers their reputation, according to a survey of Independent Financial Advisors (IFA)s.

An independent survey, commissioned by content management software maker Vignette among a sample of UK IFAs, revealed that a fifth (17%) of banks regularly lose customer documents and keep customers waiting due to inefficient information management.

As many as 58% of the IFAs surveyed believe that poor document management and organisation is costing financial services their reputation, as well as costing customers around £1,000 per year in missed revenue opportunities.

In addition, one-third of IFAs said that they are forced to wait an average of 16 days for a bank to administer paperwork as a result of inefficient processes. As many as 7% said it can take some banks up to eight weeks to respond to applications such as mortgage statements, bank statements, loan details, birth certificates and wage slips.

Disorganisation as a result of a ‘head in the sand’ syndrome was the main culprit, claimed IFAs, as was insufficient technology, which does not allow bank employees to have a single, Internet-enabled view of customer data.

Any company ignoring the importance of information management risks loosing out on revenue as well as customer base, says Gonzalo Usandizaga, Vice President and General Manager EMEA, Vignette.

“While there are many exemplary financial institutions that are using information to improve customer experience, today’s findings show that in some cases a gap still exists between the levels of service that providers are delivering and what is expected of them,” he said. “Managing and delivering customer records electronically provides a platform to enhance and speed internal processes.”