"Banca d'Italia's 'services to the public' series - The Banking and Financial Ombudsman"9 September 2022

Banca d'Italia has adopted an integrated consumer protection system that is based on different pillars and serves various purposes. Among the different instruments made available to customers is the creation, in 2009, of a Banking and Financial Ombudsman, an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme for disputes between customers and banks and other financial intermediaries, concerning banking and financial transactions and services. It represents a simpler, more rapid and cheaper solution than that offered by the civil courts. In its ten years of activity, the Banking and Financial Ombudsman has received and analyzed over 130,000 complaints, awarding €104 million euros to consumers in the last 5 years alone.