There are widespread problems with the way banks inform and advise their customers according to a European Commission report on retail financial service published today. Specific problems include information which in many cases is difficult to understand, opaque bank fees, problems with advice and low levels of switching. The report describes the price structures of current accounts as "very opaque making it almost impossible for consumers to know how much they are paying and to compare different offers".

As a follow up to the Consumer Market Scoreboard 2008, the Commission has published a Staff Working Paper "Follow up in Retail Financial Services to the Consumer Market Scoreboard," with an independent bank fees study analysing the prices of accounts for 224 banks covering on average 81% of the EU market.

Results

1. Opaque bank fees. The fee structures of current accounts are often opaque. Almost a third of consumers surveyed are not able to compare current account offers. Around 10% of the banks had little or no price information available on their websites and 33% had incomplete price information in their tariffs.

In some EU countries, consumers pay considerably more for current accounts than in others. The prices of accounts with average usage range from as high as € 253 in Italy to as low as €27 in Bulgaria. For "intensive" users, the difference is even clearer: from a maximum of € 831 in Italy to a minimum of € 28 in Bulgaria. Austria, France Italy and Spain score poorly on transparency and are among the most expensive countries for banking services. Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal secure low rankings, in terms of current account prices.

2. Information and advice. Consumers find pre-contractual information, in many cases, difficult to understand; “incomprehensible” and “insufficient” information are major obstacles to cross border shopping of financial services. 79% of EU citizens want clear and comparable standardised information as for instance foreseen in the new Consumer Credit Directive.

3. Switching. For current bank accounts, switching rates remain low at 9% for 2007 and 2008, compared for instance with 25% for car insurance.

What happens next?

The evidence will feed into the ongoing work in the area of retail financial services that the Commission has announced in the Communication "Driving European Recovery" March 2009. The EU's Unfair Commercial Practices Directive already prohibits practices which mislead consumers and distort choice, for instance omitting information linked to bank accounts or giving so unintelligible information that the average consumer cannot work out the price.

Member States have an obligation to enforce these laws in financial services. Industry (voluntary) common principles to facilitate bank account switching will apply on November 1st 2009. The Commission will monitor implementation carefully.