Financial Ombudsman Service takes step towards digital transformation with Workday

The UK’s Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has implemented cloud-based software from Workday as a vital step on its digital transformation journey.

The government organisation, which settles disputes between consumers and financial services providers, plans to digitally transform its back office after adopting the cloud-based Workday Financial Management and Workday Human Capital Management software.

Set up in 2001 by MPs, the organisation is contacted by more than one million people a year. It is planning to digitally transform its entire back office, with Workday’s cloud-based software a foundation stone.

“Workday and our implementation partner, IBM, are helping us to rethink parts of our business and how it operates,” said Nicola Wadham, CIO at the FOS. “We’re putting power in the hands of our employees while also liberating data across our organisation. With Workday, we will become a data-driven organisation with the confidence to make important business decisions quickly based on the information and insights in front of us.”

Workday’s Financial Management is a single cloud-based system that captures all financial transactions, while the supplier’s Human Capital Management software encompasses all human resources functionality.

The FOS team was supported by IBM and Workday to implement the cloud software into its business and the suppliers will support wider transformation.

“We worked as ‘one team’ and set ourselves high standards to execute with incredible resilience, especially given the tough timelines of working remotely,” said Hitesh Amin, vice-president and senior partner, implementation at IBM. “The success of this programme will help the FOS to focus on the next chapter of its digital transformation journey.”

Michael Douroux, Workday’s UK country manager, added: “Workday will help the FOS to build a culture of agility and data-driven decision-making that will allow it to respond to whatever comes next. The last couple of years have shown us that digital transformation is more important now than ever.”

The work of the FOS includes deciding who is responsible for losses resulting from authorised push settling disputes between banks and consumers payment (APP) scams.

Through a voluntary reimbursement code, banks are instructed to reimburse victims of APP fraud, which occurs when criminals use fake websites and emails to trick consumers into authorising payments to them.

Figures from consumer rights organisation Which? show that the FOS is receiving a growing number of complaints from consumers that they are not being reimbursed. Between 2020 and 2021, complaints increased from 3,600 to 7,770.