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Financial regulator Bafin records a record number of complaints
Consumer complaints in the financial sector have risen sharply: bank customers are particularly dissatisfied. Figures show drastic increases, especially at banks. Read more! #Complaints #Finance #Banking #ConsumerComplaints
Financial regulator Bafin records a record number of complaints
Last year, the financial regulator Bafin recorded an alarming increase in consumer complaints about banks, insurance companies and securities service providers. With a total of 38,233 cases, this increase was a record, an increase of more than 62 percent compared to the previous year. Bank customers were particularly affected, recording an increase of almost 87 percent to 27,536 complaints. A large part of the problems in private customer service were traced back to a specific financial institution, as Christian Bock, head of the Bafin consumer protection department, emphasized.
Customers of credit institutions expressed particular dissatisfaction with difficulties in canceling accounts, problems with customer service, delayed issuance of annual tax certificates and unacceptable fees for building savings contracts. The IT change at Postbank also led to numerous complaints as customers temporarily had no access to their accounts or experienced delays in building financing. This change affected twelve million Postbank customers, who were now combined on one platform with seven million Deutsche Bank customers.
Insurance customers also made their dissatisfaction clear, particularly about the slow processing of claims and the hesitant payment of insurance benefits. Telephone accessibility was also noticeably poor for property and casualty insurers. Bafin registered a total of 7,680 complaints, which corresponds to an increase of a good 20 percent. Customers of life insurers are particularly bothered by the level of insurance benefits.
In the area of securities service providers, customer service was the focus of criticism. Customers complained about long response times, inadequate response letters and difficulties in connection with portfolio transfers. Overall, complaints here rose by almost 18 percent to 2,835 cases. Investors also increasingly complained about capital management companies, with the number of complaints increasing from 96 to 182.