Banca d'Italia protects the customers of banking and financial intermediaries using a number of diversified and integrated instruments:
- it follows the production of legislation, both national (primary legislation) and international, and oversees the drawing up and updating of secondary legislation to protect the customers of banking and financial institutions;
- it checks on compliance with the rules on conduct for banks and financial institutions, promoting transparency and fairness in customer relations;
- it ensures that individual protection instruments are available;
- it fosters the strengthening of economic and financial knowledge in the country through numerous financial education programmes.
This integrated protection system serves various purposes: it guarantees the necessary balance in information asymmetry that often characterizes an intermediary's relationships with its customers; it incentivates competition between operators and encourages the provision of services and products that are suitable for customers' needs; and it contributes to raising the general level of customers' trust in the system.
The function of customer protection and promotion of financial education is carried out by a dedicated Directorate General, at Banca d'Italia's head office in Rome, and also by branch offices across the country.
To guide the conduct of bank and financial institutions in their dealings with customers, Banca d'Italia supervises compliance with transparency rules. It carries out corrective action and requires institutions to respect the rules, it carries out off-site controls and on-site inspections, and exercises sanctioning and injunction powers in the event of infringements. It promotes respect for the rights and obligations of the parties in the provision of payment services.
The provision of effective instruments to facilitate the resolution of problems that may arise with banking institutions - and which can be directly activated by individual customers - is another important component of protection. Customers can send complaints to Banca d'Italia about conduct they consider to be irregular or unfair, or they can file a complaint with the Banking and Financial Ombudsman (ABF), an out-of-court dispute resolution system that is autonomous and independent of Banca d'Italia, which supports it at an organizational level.
The results of complaints filed with the ABF and the analysis of complaints submitted to Banca d'Italia enable the latter to identify specific customer protection needs, and enrich the information available to the supervisory authorities and contributing to decisions about controls, regulation and financial education.
Following the guidelines drawn up by the OECD and reiterated by the G20, Banca d'Italia promotes financial education schemes to improve citizens' economic and financial culture and their knowledge of self-defence mechanisms, so they can make informed financial choices in line with their needs, thus contributing to the formation of a more inclusive and efficient market.
Banca d'Italia reports on how these tasks are carried out on multiple fora and channels, including the Activity and Sustainability Report; it provides useful information and indications on the portal Economics for all, and on the website of the Banking and Financial Ombudsman.
Appeal to the Banking and Financial Ombudsman
Submitting complaints
Banking and financial supervision