It is possible to reduce the cost of Italian current accounts up to 180 euros. The Antitrust supports this, emphasizing that consumers are not yet able to take advantage of savings opportunities "because they lack the necessary information".
Information that according to the Authority "must be made available by the banks, also by introducing legislative and regulatory constraints" and by intervening "on the slowness in closing an account to open another one: even if times are reduced, it is sufficient to have a card credit card or Viacard to see them expand up to 37 days. Finally, the links between current accounts and other products must be severed”.
From the Antitrust investigation, launched in March 2011, it emerges that "a substantial reduction in median prices, in relation to over-the-counter accounts, occurred exclusively for young people (-19%), while a less significant drop was recorded for families and retirees with minor operations (respectively -2,8% -3,6%). For the remaining types of consumers, the median prices are unchanged, with variations compared to 2007 of less than 1%”.
On the contrary, costs rise, especially for some profiles, “in larger banks, where 70% of current accounts are concentrated – continues the Authority -. The prices for maintaining and handling a current account are included, depending on its use (therefore according to the current account holder profile) between a minimum of 53 and a maximum of 111 euros”.
Finally, the results of the survey show that the diffusion of the Basic Account, born from a Government initiative in 2011 to encourage the fight against cash and financial inclusion, is completely negligible: well below 1% of the total account holders of each bank.
The following are the interventions suggested by the Antitrust:
1) Improve the degree of transparency of information. In particular, the forms of communication of the SSI, a synthetic cost indicator, need to be rethought. The survey proposes using ATMs where the customer must be able to find the best offers offered by his bank. The same information should be found at the ATMs of competing banks with the aim of making the search for the best conditions simple and quick.
2) Cut the link between current accounts and other banking services. In particular, according to the Authority, it is necessary to guarantee the elimination of all unnecessary contractual or de facto ties between the current account and other services, such as mortgages, administered savings and insurance policies. On information sheets and periodic communications, banks will have to clarify that in order to have ancillary banking services it is not necessarily necessary to have a current account at the bank.
3) Reduce current account closing times. The Antitrust proposes making it compulsory to close the account within 15 days, in line with the provisions of the proposal for a Community directive currently under discussion. To facilitate the closure of the account even in the presence of instruments that involve debits (credit cards and Viacard), it could be envisaged that the new bank takes the place of the old one in assuming all possible risks.
ABI'S REPLY:
The association of banks replied to the Antitrust underlining that “the price of current accounts has already dropped, on average to 100 euros. While the recessionary cycle still weighs on the national economy and a historic low profitability framework on the banks, the banks offer ever more efficient services at increasingly limited costs”.
