The Australian Bankers’ Association (ABA) wants a one-stop shop to handle consumers’ financial services complaints.

Three organisations currently handle such disputes: the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Credit and Investments Ombudsman and the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal.

In a submission to the Federal Government’s review of external dispute resolution, ABA CEO Steven Münchenberg says a single body would “help customers get their disputes resolved faster” and “make the process easier, because customers would know exactly who to contact for help”.

The ABA also supports a compensation scheme for consumers who receive positive decisions against financial advisers but cannot get back their money because the adviser is broke or lacks adequate professional indemnity insurance.

“We support a mandatory, industry-wide, last-resort compensation scheme applying prospectively and funded by all financial service providers, including banks,” Mr Münchenberg says.

“Such a scheme would not be used by bank customers because [banks] have the capital strength to compensate customers if needed. But we think it’s an important initiative to build trust and confidence across the financial services sector.”