Summary of the Ombudsman's Report 2009

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114 ombudsmann der privaten banken – tätigkeitsbericht 2009 Complaints relating to payments business in 2009 bank financing to purchase a property because the market value of the property was seen to be too high. Card-based 253 Non-card-based 275 In consumer lending business, complaints also often centred on whether loan interest rates were appropriate and on the way banks adjusted variable interest rates. Along with the question of whether a bank was actually allowed to terminate a loan in the first place, the fact that it reported termination of the loan to SCHUFA (Germany’s largest credit reference agency) also gave rise to complaints in many cases. 989 In payments business, 65% of complaints concerned problems in connection with account management, including opening and closing accounts. The remainder were related to conventional payments, especially card transactions (17%) and credit transfers (18%). Account management Source: Association of German Banks, 30 June 2010. In 2009, card-based payments gave rise to 253 complaints. Besides the allegedly unjustified deduction of fees and the size of withdrawals made at ATMs, a further focus of these complaints was the question of liability for fraudulent use of payment cards. A total of 275 cases were referred to the ombudsman because the bank deducted credit transfer fees that the customer considered unjustified, or executed credit transfers wrongly or failed to execute credit transfers at all. In some cases, customers complained about fees charged for an account they no longer used and, in others, about the closure of an account.
ankenverband 115 3. Recognition of the Ombudsman Scheme The German private commercial banks’ Ombudsman Scheme is widely recognised – not only by customers and banks, but also by government bodies at national and European level: In the case of disputes between customers and private commercial banks relating to credit transfer law and misuse of payment cards, the ombudsman replaces the conciliation body set up at the Deutsche Bundesbank under the German Prohibitory Injunctions Act. The Federal Ministry of Justice has entrusted the Ombudsman Scheme with the public disputeresolution function in this field for the private commercial banks. In the case of disputes between consumers and foreign financial services undertakings, the Customer Complaints Office helps to find the appropriate complaints office abroad. The German private commercial banks’ Ombudsman Scheme supports the Consumer Complaints Network for Financial Services (FIN-NET), set up by the European Commission, which links up recognised dispute-resolution schemes in the European financial services sector. 4. Conclusion The global financial crisis poses a particular challenge to banks as well as the Ombudsman Scheme in the year ahead. Banks themselves must make a major contribution towards restoring investor confidence lost as a result of the crisis. The Association of German Banks has taken up this challenge by launching a number of measures in the field of consumer protection, particularly in relation to investment advice. For example, in May 2009 it published “Guidelines for strengthening investor confidence in retail banking”. In March 2010, it presented a model product information sheet designed to improve transparency and comparability by providing a brief and concise description of an investment product. In doing so, it was not only following up ideas tabled by the Federal Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture and Consumer Protection,
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Summary of the Ombudsman's Report 2009

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