The body for the management of the lists of financial agents and credit brokers has launched the public consultation on the draft communication relating to the functioning of the online platforms that offer estimation services and/or comparison of financing options. All those who wish to transmit observations or comments can do so by 18 February, then they will be analyzed by the Body to prepare the final text of the communication.
The need for communication to the market arises from the existence of some internet sites that carry out simulation or compilation activities that are not directly managed by subjects not belonging to the financial sector and, therefore, not subject to the control of any supervisory authority in the sector.
The draft communication, in the light of the diffusion of the process of digital transformation also in the credit intermediation sector, it clarifies the perimeter within which the activity of online platforms must be considered an activity reserved to subjects registered with the Oam.
The primary objective is to ensure, in compliance with the principle of technological neutrality, the level playing field between market operators, regardless of the methods of carrying out credit intermediation through the physical network or through digital channels, and taking into account the regulatory limits imposed with respect to the performance of reserved activities.
In particular, according to the draft, they would carry out an activity of a confidential nature, which entails the necessary registration to the Oam, the following platforms or sites that perform:
– The collection, from the user, of personal data (name, surname, email) and credit requirement (including alternatively, type of loan, amount requested, duration of the loan, repayment period, type of rate and so on) , followed by a proposal for an estimate – also through the presentation of different installment amounts attributable to different lenders – subsequently providing the user with the possibility of recontact by the bank;
– The collection, from the user, of personal data and credit requirements, not followed by the proposal of several credit offers, but accompanied by the addressing of the collected data to a specific lender, chosen by the platform itself.
In these cases, however, it is necessary to inform the user that the conditions of the offer proposed at the end of the simulations could vary after the assessments made by the lender on the user's position. At the same time, the customer must be informed if the platform does not guarantee the full range of offers available on the market: in this case, the most convenient product is not offered.
