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© National Bank of Serbia |
I. INTRODUCTION
From 1 January through 30 June 2009, the Centre for Financial Services Consumer Protection and market Supervision received:
▪ 408 complaints regarding operations of financial institutions,
▪ 284 early complaints,
▪ 296 queries, and
▪ 14,598 telephone calls via Call Centre.
In the same period 28 mediations were scheduled.
II. CONSUMER COMPLAINTS AND EARLY COMPLAINTS
In the period under review, the Centre for Financial Services Consumer Protection and market Supervision received 692 complaints and early complaints regarding the operations of financial institutions. Of the total, 41% were early complaints, and all were referred to financial institutions for further handling.
Overview of complaints and early complaints by financial services provider, January-June 2009 (table)
1. Consumer complaints
From 1 January through 30 June 2009, the Centre for Financial Services Consumer Protection and market Supervision received 408 complaints regarding the operations of financial institutions, which is two times more than in the same period of 2007 and 2008. The number of complaints doubled as a result of increased number of complaints regarding the operations of banks (82% of the total).
Number of complaints by financial services provider, January-June 2009 (table)
Complaints by type of financial services provider, January-June 2009 (chart)
Of all complaints received, 63% were processed – 37% were assessed as founded and 63% as unfounded.
Overview of complaints by financial services provider, January-June 2009 (table)
Of all founded complaints, 38% were granted.
1.1. Banks
The number of complaints received against banks (334) doubled on the same period a year earlier.
June saw 2.3 times more complaints than the first five months of the year taken together or as much as 6 times more than June last year primarily as a result of increased number of complaints regarding interest rate hike on loans in repayment status.
Complaints in 2007/ 2008/ 2009 (chart)
Of all complaints against banks, 59% were processed - 41% were assessed as founded and 59% as unfounded.
Of the total of founded complaints, 38% were granted.
The majority of complaints received by the Centre related to loans (61%), payment cards (14%) and current accounts (12%).
Overview of complaints by type, January-June 2009 (table)
Consumers mostly complained about:
▪ higher interest rates (margins) charged on concluded housing loan contracts,
▪ contracted payment of fee for capital loss arising from revaluation,
▪ ATM cash withdrawals,
▪ untimely notification on debt accrued under account management fee.
Of all complaints received by the Centre in H1 2009, 48% were made in respect of operations of 5 banks, of which 17% in respect of a single bank.
1.2. Insurance companies
From 1 January to 30 June 2009, the Consumer Protection Centre received 60 complaints against insurance companies, which is two times more than in the same period a year earlier.
Complaints in 2007/ 2008/ 2009 (chart)
Of all complaints against insurance companies, 73% were processed - 27% were assessed as founded and 73% as unfounded.
The majority of complaints received in the period under review related to automobile liability (37%), accident (32%) and life insurance (13%).
1.3. Financial leasing providers
From the beginning of the year, the Centre received 13 complaints against financial lessors, most of which relating to change in interest rate (38%).
2. Early complaints
From 1 January to 30 June 2009, the Centre received 284 early complaints, i.e. complaints sent directly to the complaints team of the Centre instead of being first addressed to the complaints team of a relevant financial institution. In line with the complaints procedure, the National Bank of Serbia forwarded all these complaints to relevant financial institutions.
Number of early complaints by financial services provider, January-June 2009 (table)
The number of early complaints is 57% higher than in the corresponding period a year earlier.
Complaints in 2007/ 2008/ 2009 (chart)
The majority of early complaints (93%) referred to operations of banks, of which 56% were in relation to loans, 23% to payment transactions and 10% to payment cards.
Overview of early complaints by type, January-June 2009 (table)
III. MEDIATION
From 1 January to 30 June 2009, 28 mediations were scheduled, of which 8 were suspended, 4 ended in settlement and 10 are still in progress. Mediation was abandoned in 6 cases.
Mediations by financial services provider, January-June 2009 (table)
Majority of mediations were based on complaints regarding loans (39%), automobile liability (21%), and deposit transactions (14%).
Mediations by type of complaint, January-June 2009 (table)
IV. CONSUMER Information AND education
1. Consumer Information
1.1. Consumer queries
From 1 January to 30 June 2009, the Centre received 296 queries regarding financial products and services and consumer rights, which is two times more than in the same period a year earlier.
Number of queries by financial services provider, January-June 2009 (table)
Queries in 2007/ 2008/ 2009 (chart)
The largest number of queries (75%) was regarding bank products and banking services - loans (54%), payment transactions (15%) and deposit operations (10%).
Overview of queries by type, January-June 2009 (table)
1.2. Calls received by the Call Centre
The Call Centre received 14,598 calls in the period under review.
Calls received by the Call Centre, January-June 2009 (table)
Excluding service Information, these calls mainly referred to banking services, exchange transactions and insurance.
The Centre also received 552 queries in electronic format regarding the exchange rate, frozen foreign currency savings deposits, enforcement of claims, payment transactions and various service Information.
2. Consumer financial education
From 5 January to 30 June 2009, regional financial education offices in NBS branches were visited by 579 citizens.
Overview of queries by area, 5 January-30 June 2009 (table)
Most of their questions related to banking products and services (50%) and exchange transactions (7%).
The citizens also wanted to find out about the complaints procedure itself, and used the office computers to download Information from the NBS and other financial institutions’ websites.
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Financial Services Consumer Protection Market Supevision H1 2009.pdf, 272 Kb
