TD Bank defends itself in wake of recent media coverage on high pressure sales practices

CEO of the TD bank Bharat Maran clears the air about its working ethics and stated that their business is totally based on trust.

TD Bank Group says it does not believe that recent media coverage regarding its sales practices is an accurate portrayal of its culture. The bank says the reports do not reflect the experiences of their colleagues, but that the concerns raised are being taken seriously.

CBC’s Go Public published two stories last week quoting TD workers who anonymously said the bank sets sales targets that pressured them to sell products that the customers don’t need. On Friday, the negative publicity led to the bank posting its biggest loss in its share price since 2009.

In a press release issued March 12, Bharat Masrani, CEO of TD, said “TD is in the trust business. We know we must earn our customers’ trust before we earn their business.”

TD said it prides itself on providing “an exceptional” work environment for its employees and that they are focused on “doing the right thing” for customers.

Best interest of the customers

While the bank does have sales goals, it is successful only when it acts in the best interest of the customers, says TD. Employees are evaluated and compensated based on many factors, like customer experience, and team and individual sales and on “how well they demonstrate our company values,” says the bank.

TD says it has measures in place to monitor sales practices, such as tracking client complaints. The bank says it does not receive many complaints.

Complaints taken seriously

“For the twelve month period ended January 31, 2017, of the many interactions with our millions of Canadian personal banking customers, we received only a few hundred such complaints related to sales practices compliance. These were investigated and handled in accordance with our procedures,” says TD.

It added that it is taking the employees’ complaints reported in the media “very seriously. We will review all of the concerns raised and we are committed to doing the right thing.”