That silence to be broken on unilateral changes at the bank

For the time being, all is silent and no news has been leaked regarding the clarifications requested in 2023 by the Bank of Italy from 13 banks, in order to investigate the initiatives taken by each individual institution regarding unilateral changes in the contractual conditions of current accounts to the detriment of customers, motivated by interest rate and inflation trends.

In the wake of the fall to zero of market rates, several banks reduced account remuneration to zero and at the same time increased fees and commissions on customer relationships. And with the subsequent rise in interest rates, initiated by the ECB in July 2022 as a result of the upturn in inflation, paradoxically, the same banks, instead of restoring the pre-existing conditions, since the justification for the previous rise in rates no longer existed, have seen fit to raise costs again, justifying the increases with the rise in the cost of living.

In short, any excuse is good to change current account conditions not only unilaterally but also in one direction: with the ECB rates falling and then rising again, customer charges have increased in any case.

Yet Bankitalia had been clear in the communication sent to the market on 15 February 2023. Banks had been urged to be extremely careful in proposing unilateral changes to the detriment of customers motivated solely by the upward trend in inflation. In addition, the institutions had been urged to revise the remuneration of deposits and to lower the charges that had increased in previous years, with the justified reason of falling interest rates to the minimum. A communication that left no room for interpretation, therefore, also emphasising to "evaluate with extreme care such contractual changes to the detriment of customers, considering that the increase in official interest rates initiated last July by the ECB may have positive effects on the overall profitability of relations between banks and their customers, potentially offsetting the inflation-induced increase in costs". And the banks' subsequent balance sheets confirmed this.

However, the warning from the supervisory authority has fallen on deaf ears. It has been snubbed by the vast majority of banks, according to Plus24's investigations over the past two years. And given that moral suasion initiatives with the banks are not effective, the Bank of Italy could take care of the preparation and updating of regulations for the protection of bank customers in order to integrate and make Article 118 of the TUB even more explicit.