Industry Letter - May 30, 2024: Guidance Regarding Customer Service Requests and Complaints (2024)

May 30, 2024

TO: All Virtual Currency Business Entities Licensed under 23 NYCRR Part 200 or Chartered as Limited Purpose Trust Companies under the New York Banking Law

FROM: Adrienne A. Harris, Superintendent of Financial Services

RE: Guidance Regarding Customer Service Requests and Complaints

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Introduction

The New York State Department of Financial Services (“Department”) is issuing this guidance (“Guidance”) to Virtual Currency Entities (“VCEs”)1 to emphasize the Department’s expectations regarding the resolution of customer service requests and complaints.2 VCEs must address and resolve customer service requests and complaints in a timely and fair manner.3 The extensive supervisory experience of the Department, including the Department’s experience in reviewing consumer complaints, indicates that a VCE’s policies and procedures with regard to customer service requests and complaints are unlikely to be sufficient unless they effectively address the issues and incorporate the mechanisms outlined here.

Customer Service Mechanisms

The Department expects a VCE’s policies and procedures to provide for the maintenance and monitoring of, at a minimum, a phone number and an electronic text communication function (either email- or chat-based) for customers to make customer service requests and complaints with the VCE. The phone number and electronic text mechanism should be monitored by human customer service representatives (“HCSRs”) who are properly trained and able to provide detailed information and assistance that is specific and tailored to the customer’s particular issue.
With respect to phone and electronic text communication, effective policies and procedures will usually include the following:
Phone

• The VCE’s customer service phone number is clearly and conspicuously stated on the VCE’s website and mobile application (“app”) used for virtual currency activities.
• HCSRs are available to answer incoming calls during the VCE’s normal business hours. Calls do not receive a busy signal and, if a call cannot be answered immediately by an HCSR, the caller is told the expected hold time.
• Customers who call outside of the VCE’s normal business hours receive a message stating the VCE’s normal business hours and a timeframe for response, and providing the opportunity for the customer to leave a voicemail. Any such voicemails are responded to within the specified timeframe.
• Both the normal business hours and specified timeframe, as determined by the VCE, are appropriate to the nature of the VCE’s business.

Electronic Text Communication

• The email address, if applicable, is clearly and conspicuously stated on the VCE’s website and app and uses the same domain name as the URL of the VCE’s customer-facing website. (Use of the same domain name is aimed at increasing confidence that the email address to which customers are sending their requests or complaints is associated with the VCE and is not part of a phishing scam or otherwise fraudulent.)
• The chat function, if applicable, is clearly and conspicuously accessible on the VCE’s website and app and is available in languages appropriate to the VCE’s user base.
• The electronic text communication function (whether email- or chat-based) is monitored during the VCE’s normal business hours and HCSRs respond to each message within a specified timeframe. Both the normal business hours and specified timeframe, as determined by the VCE, are appropriate to the nature of the VCE’s business.
• Upon receipt of an email message, if applicable, the VCE sends an automatic reply email, which confirms that the VCE received the message, provides a tracking or reference number, and informs the sender of the expected process for resolution, including the above-described normal business hours and timeframe.
• Upon receipt of a chat message, if applicable, an HCSR responds to the chat message in a timely manner. If outside the VCE’s normal business hours, the VCE sends an automatic reply chat message, which confirms that the VCE received the message, provides a tracking or reference number, and informs the sender of the expected process for resolution, including the above-described normal business hours and timeframe.
• The HCSR’s response or interaction either resolves the issue or includes an estimated timeframe for resolution that is specific to the type of complaint.

Keeping the Customer Informed

Robust policies and procedures will ensure that the VCE is providing a customer with timely, sufficiently detailed, and accurate information with regard to any customer service request or complaint, which will usually include the following:

• The VCE provides regular updates to the customer regarding the status of the customer’s request or complaint, as well as an estimated timeframe for resolution.
• When customer service requests and complaints cannot be resolved by the initial HCSR contacted or otherwise are escalated, HCSRs provide customers with a means of staying apprised of the status of the request or complaint.
• If an issue is addressed such that the customer receives less than the full remedy, redress, or other response that the customer is seeking, or if the issue persists for an extended period of time, the VCE provides to the customer a reasonably detailed explanation.
• To the extent that a VCE uses artificial intelligence (“AI”) as part of its customer service processes, the VCE, in a clear and conspicuous manner, informs the customer at the beginning of the interaction that the customer is using an AI tool and is not communicating with an HCSR.
• Customers are able to escalate any request or complaint from any AI tool to an HCSR.
• The VCE conducts sufficient testing and monitoring of any such AI tool, including any AI tool developed by a third-party, to ensure that the information provided to customers is accurate.
• The VCE provides proactive, timely, and effective customer service during both planned events (such as planned maintenance, upgrades, and promotions) and unplanned events (such as unplanned maintenance and other outages). Such proactive, timely, and effective customer service includes informing customers of any expected delays in responding to requests or complaints and, in the case of planned events, providing sufficient advance notice to customers.

FAQs

In addition to providing for timely, informative communication in response to customer service requests and complaints, effective policies and procedures will usually provide for more general communications with regard to common customer service issues, such as through an FAQ or other communication that:

• is readily accessible to customers and prospective customers on the VCE’s website and app without requiring logging into an account;
• describes the VCE’s customer service mechanisms, including their normal business hours, methods of contact to make customer service requests and complaints with the VCE, and estimated response timeframes; and
• provides customers with information on how they can submit complaints directly to the Department.

Response and Resolution Monitoring

The Department’s supervisory experience indicates that the ongoing provision of timely and fair customer service requires diligent monitoring and quality assurance by the VCE. Effective policies and procedures in this regard will usually include the following:

• The VCE specifies the individual or individuals responsible for the VCE's customer service and complaint policies and procedures.
• The VCE tracks each customer service request or complaint, including the method by which it was raised (e.g., by phone, email, chat, or complaint form), the topic of the request or complaint, and the time from its receipt to its resolution.
• The VCE provides a mechanism to solicit feedback from the customer regarding customer satisfaction, including with respect to the substantive outcome and the time from receipt to resolution.
• The VCE regularly analyzes its tracking data, customer feedback, and other relevant information to ensure that the VCE is complying with its written policies and procedures, and to identify trends, such as areas in which customers tend to be dissatisfied with timeliness or the ultimate resolution.
• If a VCE finds it is failing to comply with its policies and procedures, or that its policies and procedures are not sufficiently effective, it develops a plan to remedy such failure or ineffectiveness within a reasonable timeframe.

Reporting

Each VCE will be required to provide, both during examinations and otherwise at the Department’s request, the following information regarding customer service requests and complaints:

• A quarterly tabulation (beginning with the third quarter of 2024) of the number of customer service requests and complaints received via each method (e.g., by phone, email, chat, or complaint form) and within each request or complaint topic, and the average time from receipt to resolution of the requests and complaints; and
• Customer service and complaint policies and procedures, including provisions that align with the standards, normal business hours, and timeframes described above relating to phone and electronic text-based mechanisms.

Effective November 1, 2024, these documents must be available for Departmental review. In addition, they must be kept up-to-date and maintained for the time period specified in 23 NYCRR 200.12.
The information contained in this Guidance is not intended to be exhaustive, and the Department may update it from time to time for any reason, including, for example, in response to new information, evolving markets, or additional experience. This Guidance is not intended to limit, and does not limit, the scope or applicability of any law or regulation.
Each VCE is responsible for understanding and complying with all applicable laws and regulations, including any applicable legal and regulatory requirements imposed by other state or federal regulatory agencies. This Guidance is not intended to address and does not address any such other state or federal legal or regulatory requirements.