One of the instruments provided by Banca d'Italia for the individual protection of customers of banks and financial institutions is the management of complaints.
Customers can submit a complaint to Banca d'Italia to report conduct that they consider to be irregular or unfair in the provision of banking and financial products, such as deposits, loans and payment services. Complaints can be filed by means of a guided process on the Bank's platform Online Services for the Public, which can be accessed from any electronic device in a secure manner.
When it receives a complaint, Banca d'Italia takes action through the Branch that is competent for the area concerned, which asks the financial intermediary to examine the complaint and respond to the customer. In this way, the Bank facilitates dialogue between the parties. It also replies directly to the applicant, to help them to clearly understand the problems raised. If another authority has competency for the complaint, Banca d'Italia will forward it to them if necessary and will also inform the applicant of this step.
The Bank cannot directly deal with the merits of contractual issues or business assessments on the entrepreneurial autonomy of institutions, nor can it disclose the results of investigations conducted or any supervisory initiatives that may have been initiated.
If customers want to obtain a decision on the dispute, they can apply to the ABF after they have made a complaint to the financial institution. They can also file a suit through the law courts in the usual way.
These complaints make an important contribution to the Bank's actions in the field of individual customer protection. The analysis of the complaints received and the information that they provide enable Banca d'Italia to identify specific customer protection needs, enriching the information available to the supervisory authorities and contributing to decisions on the action to be taken. The complaints may also highlight gaps in the legislation and aspects that can be improved, as well as issues that require an increased level of knowledge and awareness on the part of the users of banking and financial services to be achieved through financial education initiatives.
Banca d'Italia reports on its management of complaints by providing a general account of the analyses carried out in its 'Report on the Operations and Activities of the Bank of Italy', and more detailed information in its 'Report on the management of complaints from customers of banks and financial companies'.
Further information
Call our toll-free phone number 800 19 69 69 for more information on how to submit a complaint to Banca d'Italia and on other services provided by Banca d'Italia.
Related Topics
Submitting complaints
By submitting a complaint to Banca d'Italia, customers can report behaviours on the part of banks and financial intermediaries which they deem to be irregular or wrong, or report irregularities in the information held in the Central Credit Register (CR) or in the Bad Cheques and Payment Cards (CAI).
