New York Sets Customer Service Standards for Virtual Currency Entities.

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has developed customer service standards for DFS-regulated Virtual Currency Entities (VCEs) and will begin monitoring their performance. Based on VCE records, DFS evaluates the adequacy and effectiveness of customer service policies.

DFS has established detailed requirements for VCE telephone and electronic communications, transparency, and posting of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) online. VCAs are required to provide records of their policies and procedures and the resolution times of inquiries and complaints they receive.

Describe good customer service

The new requirements are mostly preliminary. “Human customer service representatives” should be available during business hours, and customers should be contacted by voicemail during off hours. Receipt of electronic communications should be automatically acknowledged with an estimated response time. FAQs must be accessible to viewers who do not have an account with the company. Customers should be informed immediately if they are dealing with an artificial intelligence rather than a human.

Each customer inquiry or complaint must be followed up and identified to DFS by the person or persons responsible for customer service.

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Record keeping and customer feedback should begin in the third quarter of 2024 and should be accessible to DFS by November 1. “This policy outlines clear expectations for a positive customer experience that benefits both customers and businesses,” Supervisor Adrian Harris said in a May 30 statement.

Control priority

VCAs are regulated by the New York BitLicense or are chartered as limited purpose trust companies that engage in virtual currency trading activities. There are currently 32 VCEs with BitLicenses or trust charters. According to the DFS regulation approved in April 2023, they will be required to pay their regulatory costs on par with banks and insurance entities.

DFS wants to be the “master regulator of virtual currency”. Major crypto companies including Bitfinex, Kraken and Paxful left the state when BitLicense was established in 2015. The BitLicense regime has been criticized, particularly by pro-crypto New York City Mayor Eric Adams in April 2022 for its “difficult” requirements. However, DFS strengthened its regulatory oversight of VCAs in November 2023.

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