A “transactional fine” of 4.5 million euros was imposed on Société Générale for “unjustified intervention commission deductions” and accepted by the bank, announced the Fraud Repression (DGCCRF) on Monday on its website. The facts in question, detected during an investigation carried out between April 2019 and January 2021, “relate to the offense of deceptive commercial practice”, specifies the General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention.
The service dependent on the Ministry of the Economy further indicates that the settlement fine, “proportionate to the seriousness of the facts”, was proposed with the agreement of the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office and accepted by the company. For its part, Société Générale “confirms having concluded a transactional agreement” following an investigation “concerning unjustified bank charges”, in a press release to AFP on Monday.
“A computer configuration error”
“As soon as it was identified in 2020, Société Générale decided to put an end to this pricing practice which resulted from an IT configuration error in the application of intervention commissions”, she assures, wishing “to clarify that all individual customers” affected by these undue deductions of intervention commissions “have been fully reimbursed”.
The investigation was carried out by the CCRF service of the departmental directorate for the protection of populations of Hauts-de-Seine (DDPP92), the DGCCRF further clarified on its website, without giving further details.