The Bank of Italy will soon conduct a pilot exercise in mystery shopping. Specially trained individuals will make undercover visits to bank branches and inquire about banking products and services. The goal is to observe real interactions between financial intermediaries and their customers.
This pilot exercise will enable the Bank of Italy to fine-tune its supervisory approach, with a view to using mystery shopping as a customer protection tool.
The results of undercover visits may contribute to supervisory action, although they will not, per se, trigger sanction proceedings.
