Consumer complaints against banking institutions skyrocketed in 2021 by 61% compared to 2020. This is reflected in the Claims report 2021 published this Monday from Bank of Spainwhich specifies that the normal elaborate 34,330 complaints from bank customersespecially for problems relating to mortgages and cards.
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The document details that after the claims, the financial companies they returned 3.94 million euros in 202127.5% more than in 2020 and the highest figure in the last decade.
The Bank of Spain has verified that the upward trend in the volume of claims recorded in the last two years continued last year. In fact, the figure was only surpassed by data from 2017, an all-time record with 40,176 claims processed, caused by those relating to the payment of the formalization costs of mortgage loans; and the chronicles of 2013, when there was a significant increase in complaints (up to 34,645) motivated by the application of the so-called ‘floor clauses’ of mortgage loans.
Most requested: mortgages, cards …
The most popular products continued to be mortgages, with 11,481 credits -94.1% more than in 2020-. Within this section, complaints motivated by the payment of formalization costs (7,083, probably due to judicial ruling) and those motivated by the procurement of related products (1,249 complaints, mostly due to the collection of expenses maintenance of the current account used exclusively for the payment of the mortgage loan).
Second, they kept cards in their different modes (credit, debit, revolving and prepaid), with 10,132 claims (+ 80.2%). These claims were driven by the alleged fraudulent transactions carried out with the cards and the failure to deliver the documentation relating to the cards. swivel; while in third place they repeated current accounts and deposits, with 5,899 complaints (+ 40.7%).
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Los personal loans they are the fourth product with the highest number of complaints, with 1,907 (+ 34.6%). Complaints relating to transfers -1.323- occupy the fifth place and it is the third subject that has grown more than in 2020 (+ 75.7%).
“This growth is mainly due to accidents related to alleged fraudulent transfers made over the Internet (839 claims, 157.4% more than in 2020 -326 claims-), “explains the document.
The report indicates, however, that more than half of the claims were concentrated in three entities – CaxaBank (7,089), Santander (5,821) and BBVA (4,482) – and that the increases were recorded in all the Spanish provinces, concentrating the greater number of Madrid, with 26.1% of the total, followed by Barcelona (8.1%), Seville (6.2%), Valencia (5.2%) and Malaga (3.6%).
Only 9,921 complaints were processed
The bank institution’s memory, on the other hand, specifies that of the 34,330 complaints presented, only 9,921 were dealt with, while the more than 24,000 remaining were ineligiblehave been returned to Customer Service (SAC), have been transferred to other organizations or have submitted incomplete information.
Among the requests processed, a total of 2,997 cases concluded with a favorable relationship for the institution e 6,924 with a favorable customer relationship. Of the latter, the entities have rectified their acts on 1,362 occasions, while in 3,694 appeals the entity has consented without the need for reporting and in 1,868 cases the institution refused to rectifysince the reports of the Bank of Spain are not binding.
This data implies that 73% of all resolved complaints ended with a sense favorable to the interests of the applicantwhich represents the best index of the decade, together with that of 2019.
Consumer concern
From Asufin, an association for the defense of financial users, they see with concern that there are still some “The claims for expenses and related products are the majority” with mortgages, which they describe as “incomprehensible” because both issues are already regulated by the Mortgage Credit Act (LCCI) of 2019.
The organization also warns that everything related to funding supposes two thirds of all requests – in addition to 33% of mortgages, cards represent almost 30% and personal loans 5.6% – in a delicate moment for many citizens. “We are concerned that at a time when many families are in need of cash, bad borrowing practices continue to be observed,” da Asufin said.
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