After 2020 surge in complaints about delays and refusals to grant Covid loans last year the complaints presented to the Bank of Italy from customers of credit institutions have decreased. At the same time, however, online scams have increased (especially those related to the theft of credentials), which still represent a small part of the total digital payments. This is what emerges from Report on the complaints of customers of banks and financial companies - year 2021 published today by Via Nazionale.
In detail, a Bankitalia nearly 9.900 arrived last year exposed (-12% compared to 2020), of which those relating to loan requests were around 35% of the total, with a decrease of 37% on the year (from 5.532 in 2020 it fell to 3.493).
The most frequent reports concerned the following areas:
- termination of the relationship;
- requests for copies of bank documentation;
- the execution of the operations (e.g. payment orders to which the intermediary has not followed up);
- amounts unduly received/withheld;
- the renegotiation of relationships.
Reports relating to online scams instead, there were 622 (equal to 6% of the total complaints received) and they mostly concerned digital payments, confirming the growing trend already highlighted in 2020.
In general, 42% of the complaints ended with a wholly or partly favorable outcome to the customer, also thanks to the role played by the Bank of Italy in dealing with intermediaries. The data is in line with that of 2020.
The “buy now, pay later” formula
Furthermore, the Bank of Italy reports that in 2021 the first reports of a new phenomenon, widespread above all abroad and known as "buy now, pay later” (“buy now, pay later”), a form of credit that allows consumers to purchase goods or services online (but not only) by postponing the moment of payment or benefiting from debits by installments. According to Bank of Italy, in some cases the possibility of obtaining a deferment could lead customers to take on debts higher than the sustainable amount.
