Westpac boss wants simple appeal process

Westpac chief Brian Hartzer believes the complaints process for bank customers should be simplified, but would not be happy with a banking tribunal if it is just going to add another layer of bureaucracy.

The idea of a banking tribunal funded by the industry has been put to the head of each of Australia's big four banks when they faced a parliamentary committee this week.

"We want to make sure when things do go wrong that they have a very easy avenue to raise a complaint or raise an issue," Mr Hartzer told the House of Representatives economics committee on Thursday.

He said at the moment there are a couple of different bodies customers can turn to for things like superannutation and insurance .

If people are falling through the cracks or there is a lack of clarity for where customers should go, he supports the idea of reviewing the architecture of appeal.

"If the answer is a tribunal, so be it," he said.

"We would simple say, let's not just add another layer."

He believes Westpac has its own very robust process for dealing with complaints and issues.