Annual Reports on the Banking and Financial Ombudsman and the management of complaints from customers of banks and financial firms

18 June 2025

Today Banca d'Italia publishes the Annual Report on the activity of the Banking and Financial Ombudsman (ABF Report) and the Annual Report on the management of complaints from customers of banks and financial companies for the year 2024.

The ABF Report notes that approximately 14,000 complaints were received in 2024 . This figure points to a virtual stabilization in banking disputes, excluding recurring issues, such as salary-backed loans and postal savings certificates, which continued to decline. There was, however, an increase in complaints regarding more complex matters, such as those involving current accounts (+18 per cent) connected to inheritance issues, account closures or freezes, and unauthorized fraudulent transactions. In particular, disputes involving the fraudulent use of payment instruments continue to be an area of concern, even though they have decreased. These cases mainly involved phishing, spoofing, smishing, and vishing. Nevertheless, such incidents still represent a very small fraction of the total volume of non-cash payment operations.

In 63 per cent of cases, the outcome was substantially in favour of the complainant (including cases where the dispute was resolved through settlement before a decision was handed down). Approximately €16 million was awarded to complainants, of which nearly €10 million has already been returned to customers.

The average decision time, excluding suspension periods, was 114 days, down from the year before and well below the 180-day limit set by the regulations.

As for the Report on the management of complaints, in 2024 Banca d'Italia received over 11,800 complaints from customers of banks and financial companies, representing a 5 per cent increase compared with 2023. This rise is mainly due to blocked payment cards, issues with home banking services and errors in the execution of wire transfers.

Complaints regarding credit applications decreased by 7 per cent, while those concerning current account-related issues fell by 3 per cent. Just over 2,800 complaints (up by 6 per cent compared with 2023) dealt with disputes over reports made to the Central Credit Register and were handled directly by Banca d'Italia.

On the other hand, there was a notable increase in complaints regarding payment instruments and services (+45 per cent) and fraud (+32 per cent). Among the latter, about 30 fraud attempts involved the unauthorized use of Banca d'Italia's name and logo in order to deceive users as to their authenticity (see Warning: Fraud attempts misusing the name and logo of Banca d'Italia).

Complaints concerning consumer credit transactions also rose by approximately 3 per cent, while those regarding investment instruments and services remained stable.

Excluding complaints on matters outside Banca d'Italia's remit (16 per cent), in 54 per cent of cases customers obtained full or partial satisfaction of their claims from banks and financial companies, also thanks to the Bank's intervention.