Complaints Handling Policy

Version 1.0

20/11/2023

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1. Introduction

 

Coinpal Group is a company group that provides various cryptocurrency-related services to natural person customers around the world based on a compliance system.(hereinafter referred to in this document as “Group”,”we” or “us”.

 

 

2. Scope and Applicability

 

As per the current regulatory framework, the Group must establish, implement and maintain effective and transparent procedures for the reasonable and prompt handling of Complaints received from its Clients and recording the Complaints received and the measures taken for its resolution.

 

Accordingly, the Group has adopted this Complaints Handling Policy (hereafter "the Policy") to ensure a fair and quick process for the effective and efficient handling of Complaints that may arise from the business relationship between the Group and its Clients. This Policy sets out the method for submitting and handling the complaints and the procedure to be followed by the Group's personnel.

 

When handling complaints, the Group and its personnel will respect your human rights and uphold the principles of justice, fairness, reason, objectivity, impartiality and efficiency. In case of malpractice by the Group's personnel, the Group will take disciplinary measures against its employee(s).

 

This Policy applies to former, existing or prospective clients (hereafter "the Client" for convenience).

 

3. Definitions

"Complainant" means any natural person (individual), legal person (legal or corporate entity) or their authorized representative(s) who has submitted a Complaint in relation to Products and/or Services provided by the Group and/or in relation to the agreement(s) concluded with the Group and it includes a Client as defined above (hereafter also referred to as "you" or "your"). 

 

"Complaint" means a written statement of dissatisfaction or appeal submitted by a Complainant to the Group stating that the rights and/or legal interests of the Complainant have been breached due to, including but not limited to, non-compliance with the terms of the agreement(s) concluded by the Group, non-performance of the Group, and/or relating to the Products and/or Services provided by the Group to the Complainant and requesting fulfilment of the Complainant's demands. The definition of Complaint includes grievances and disputes of any kind.

 

"Complaints Register" means an internal journal or an equivalent computer document registration system in which all the Complaints received from the Complainants are registered, regardless of the form in which it was sent (i.e. via email, fax, registered post, online form, or other electronic means).

 

"Products" means any form of crypto payment instruments or crypto payment solutions(crypto on-ramp), whether physical, portable, virtual, online, electronic, internet-based or any other payment methods offered directly by the Group itself or third-party service providers.

 

"Services" means opening merchant accounts to collect payments via the Group's payment channels, e-commerce, e-portal, e-shop and/or any other payment services offered directly by the Group itself or via third-party service providers.

 

"System" means any software the Group provides to use its Services.

 

4. Personal Data

To investigate and resolve a Complaint, it is necessary to collect and process the Complainant's personal data. Because of this activity, the Group is considered the controller of your personal data in accordance with the provisions of the GDPR Regulation.

 

However, it should be noted that any personal data the Group collects about the Complainant will only be used for the purposes we have collected it for, or as allowed under the applicable legislation, and to perform our contractual obligations in relation to the Products and/or Services offered.

 

If you wish to learn more about how the Group collects, processes, uses, maintains, stores and discloses your personal data, please read our Privacy Policy, which can be found on the Group's website.

 

5. Submission Method

If a Client has a Complaint against the Group, then (s)he should complete the Complaints Form (herein attached as Annex 1) and submit it to the Group in one of the following ways:

 

1. By completing the Complaints Form online via the Group's Website.

2. By completing and submitting the Complaints Form electronically at the following email address

 

In all of the above cases, the Complainant must submit, together with the Complaints Form, all relevant supporting evidence. The Group needs to clearly understand the nature and details of the Complaint. Accordingly, for the Complaint to be considered by the Group, it must include the following information:

 

• The Complainant's name and surname (for natural persons) or the legal entity's name and legal representative's name and surname (for legal persons);
• The Complainant's permanent residence (for natural persons) or the legal / actual business address (for legal persons);
• Identification documents of the Complainant;
• Customer account number;
• The Complainant's contact details (i.e. email address, telephone number where the Complainant can be reached);
• Date and time that the issue occurred;
• Clear description of the issue (content summary) and the claim;
• Transaction numbers and/or payment instruments (if applicable); 
• The Products and/or Services provided by the Group which are related to the Complaint;
• The employee responsible for the provision of those Products and/or Services (if applicable);
• The magnitude of the claimed damage;
• All the evidence available to the Complainant and copies of any relevant documents the Complainant can provide;
• Reference to any material correspondence relating to the Complaint (i.e. via emails, live chat, telephone calls, letters, or any other form of correspondence exchanged between the Group and the Complainant).

 

It should be noted that the above list is not exhaustive. In case of doubt or ambiguity, the Group reserves the right to request the Complainant to provide additional information, documents and/or further clarifications. The Group needs the Complainant's cooperation for the resolution of the Complaint.

 

The Group will not handle or investigate a Complaint and it reserves the right to decline such a Complaint if the Complainant does not complete the Complaints Form (hereto attached as Annex 1) and/or does not provide sufficient information, documents or other supporting evidence (as outlined above) for the resolution of the Complaint.

 

If the Complaint was not received in the manner described above and was received through other channels of communication (i.e. via fax, chat to another department or employee of the Group), then the Complaint, in the form it has been received, will be forwarded by the recipient to the Back-Office Department within the same working day and a member of the Back-Office Department will duly inform the Complainant.

6. Complaint Handling Procedure

 

The Back-Office Department is the first point of contact and is responsible for the handling of Complaints together with the assistance of the Compliance Officer. Upon receipt of a Complaint, the Back-Office Department will gather all the relevant facts, information, documents and evidence regarding the said Complaint and thoroughly examine the grounds of the Complaint received (including any information and data contained in the Group's archives/records and the Client's customer account) to reach a fair outcome.

The procedure which shall be followed by the Group following the submission of a Complaint is as follows:

 

6.1.  Acknowledging receipt of your Complaint

 

Upon receiving the Complaint, a member of the Back-Office Department will register the Complaint to an internal Complaints Register by giving it a unique reference number and then send an acknowledgement of receipt to the Complainant's registered email address or correspondence address within five (5) business days from the day of the receipt and also provide the following information:

 

• The Group's Complaints Handling Policy;
• The unique reference number which the Complainant should use in all future contact with the Group regarding the specific Complaint;
• The person and/or the department who is handling the Complaint and their contact details;
• What is the indicative handling time (i.e. 15 business days);
• Any further information, documents and/or clarifications required from the Complainant for the successful resolution of the complaint;
• The fact that the Complaint examination is free of charge.

 

If a grievance does not fall within the definition of "Complaint" (as specified in paragraph 3 above) or is not considered by the Group to be a Complaint, it will be categorised as an "enquiry" and will be forwarded to the relevant department to be handled accordingly. Nonetheless, the Complainant reserves the right to request to reclassify his/her enquiry as a Complaint.

 

The Group considers as an "enquiry", including but not limited to, the following:

• change of password, email or personal details;
• losing the credential login details;
• closing down the customer's account;
• updating the customer's file or KYC information/documents;
• The Client does not wish to receive newsletters, promotional material or advertising emails;
• The Client cannot see his/her executed transactions or transactions history, etc.

 

6.2.  Handling timeframe of your Complaint

 

Once the Group acknowledges receipt of the Complaint it will be reviewed carefully, investigate the circumstances surrounding the Complaint and will try to resolve it without undue delay.

 

The Group shall take every reasonable effort to investigate the Complainant's Complaint and give a response as soon as possible, but not later than 15 business days  from the date the Complaint was submitted and the Complaints Form was fully completed. During the investigation process, the Group will keep the Complainant updated of the progress of his/her Complaint.

 

A member of the Group's personnel may contact the Complainant directly (i.e. via email or telephone) in order to obtain further information, documents and/or clarifications in relation to the filled Complaint. The Complainant undertakes to respond to the Group's request within 7 business days from the day of the Group's request. If the Complainant fails to respond and/or provide the requested additional information, documents and/or clarifications, then the Group will provide a response to the Customer based on the information and internal records available to its possession and close the case.

 

After the case is closed, reconsideration is only possible by submitting a new Complaint for which the new handling time limits apply. The Group reserves the right to decline accepting the recurring Complaint if:

 

1. It is not compliant with the provisions of this Policy;
2. The Complainant fails to provide on time all the additional information, documents and/or clarifications requested and which are necessary to settle the claim;
3. The Complainant has applied three time for the same Complaint for which the Group has already performed an investigation and has issued a final response.

 

In the event that the Group is unable to give a response to the Complainant within the timeframe given (i.e. because the Complaint requires further investigation), the Group has the right to postpone the response or provide the Complainant with an interim (i.e. non-final and non-binding) response in writing (or another durable medium) by clearly stating the reasons for the delay, when the Complaint will be examined and indicating when the Group will respond.

 

In any case, the final response must be provided no later than 30 calendar days from the date of the interim response.

 

6.3.  Final Decision and Escalation Procedure

 

When the Group reaches an outcome, it will inform the Complainant of its decision in writing and in plain language which is clearly understood, together with an explanation of the Group's position and any remedy measures it intends to take (if applicable).

 

If the Complaint is against an employee or a Group department, then it will be handled directly by the Compliance Officer together with the HR Department and/or the Group's management.

 

If the Complaint is refused to be satisfied, or is partially satisfied, then the Group will contain the reasons of the refusal as well as indicate other means by which the Complainant can defend his/her legal interests (i.e. mediation, courts etc.)

• If the Complainant is unsatisfied with the response (s)he receives from the Group or deems that the Complaint needs to be raised further, then the Complainant may escalate his/her Complaint to the Compliance Department which will independently and impartially investigate it.

 

• If the Complainant is also not satisfied with the response of the Compliance Department, then (s)he may escalate the Complaint to the Group's General Management.

 

• If again the Complainant is not satisfied, the Complaint may be escalated to the Group Compliance Officer and then to the Group CEO and/or Group Legal as last resort.

 

 

7. Verbal Complaints

 

It is the Group's Policy not to accept any verbal Complaints. Should any of the Group's employees (regardless of department), agents, associates, affiliates, business partners, or business introducers receive a verbal complaint, then the recipient will duly inform the Complainant of the following:

 

• The Group's Complaints Handling Policy;
• That all the Complaints must be made in writing by completing the Complaints Form hereto attached as Annex 1; and
• To submit the Complaint with one of the submission methods outlined In Paragraph 5 above.

 

8. Monitoring and Reporting

 

Both the Back-Office and the Compliance Department will monitor and assess the complaints handling procedure and its results in order to identify the following:

 

• Whether the complaints procedure is effective;
• Whether there is any failure, weaknesses or shortcomings in the procedures followed or in the internal controls and take relevant corrective action(s) if necessary;
• Whether there are any recurring or systematic technical or operational problems;
• Whether there are any potential legal, operational or compliance risks;
• Any other problems identified.

 

Accordingly, on a monthly basis, the Head of the Back-Office Department will:

 

1. Send a report to the Compliance Department with an analysis of the complaints' handling data regarding the main complaint reasons/causes, complaints related to a specific product or service, how to remove specific complaint reasons and reoccurring and/or systemic problems. The Compliance Department will then suggest corrective measures / action(s) to the Board of Directors to be taken for review and approval before implementation (see Annex 2 template). 

 

The decisions taken by the Board of Directors for remedial measures as well as the management of risks identified and the removal of any technical / operational deficiencies will be recorded in Board Minutes and records of the Meeting Minutes will be maintained at least 3 years.

 

(b)Upon request from the regulator (or another competent authority), submit a report regarding the complaints the Group has received, how these were handled, the outcome and any remedial measures taken.

 

9. Record Keeping and Retention Period of your Complaint

 

The responsible department for record keeping is the Back-Office Department. Under the applicable regulatory framework, the Group is required to maintain records of all the Complaints together with the related supporting documents/evidence, correspondence and the Complaints' Register for at least five (5) years from giving the final decision to the Complainant (i.e. completion of the Complaint) which will including the following information:

 

• The Complainant's name and surname (for natural persons) or the legal entity's name and legal representative's name and surname (for legal persons);
• The Complainant's permanent residence (for natural persons) or the legal / actual business address (for legal persons);
• Customer account number of the Complainant;
• The time when and the way the Complaint was received;
• Description/content of the Complaint and Complaint cause;
• Date and time the issue arose;
• The Products and/or Services provided by the Group and the employees responsible for providing these to the Complainant;
• The disputed amount and the magnitude of the claimed damage;
• Date of receipt, registration date and registration number of the Complaint;
• Course of action(s) taken;
• The department(s) involved in the Complaint investigation along with the names of the responsible employees;
• Final decision/outcome, any remedial measures taken & resolution date;
• Any conflicts of interests identified.

 

However, please note that we may retain such records for longer than five (5) years in case for example a legal dispute arises between the Complainant and the Group or due to other legal or regulatory reasons requiring us to do so. In any case, we will not keep Complaint records for any longer than is required. As soon as the purpose has been fulfilled, the Group will erase the data or destroy the Complaint records.

 

10. Amendments to this Policy

 

The Group will review this Policy at least annually, or whenever a material change occurs in the law, or in the Group's internal procedures regarding the handling of complaints, or whenever the Group deems it necessary for any reason, so that the Policy to reflect its actual procedures in place.

 

The Group will duly notify its clients of such changes by posting an updated version of this Policy on its Website which will serve as the actual notice of the Group to its clients.

 

11. FAQs

 

If you have any questions regarding this Policy or require further clarifications, please direct your request to [email protected]

Click to download: ANNEX 1 COMPLAINTS FORM.doc