Last year, the financial regulator Bafin received more consumer complaints about banks, insurers and securities service providers than ever since the authority published figures. In total, customers complained 38,233 times. That was 62 percent more than in the previous year, said Bafin. Most of the complaints came from bank customers, with the number of cases increasing by almost 87 percent to a good 27,536 cases. Problems with account cancellations, disruptions in customer service, delayed annual tax certificates and impermissible fees were the main causes of dissatisfaction.
However, bank customers were particularly angry about the former Deutsche Bank subsidiary Postbank. “A significant proportion of the complaints about disruptions in private customer service at banks were caused by a financial institution,” said Christian Bock, head of the Bafin consumer protection department. This is reportedly Postbank, which moved its IT to Deutsche Bank’s systems last year. At times, thousands of customers had no access to their accounts or complained that assistance was difficult to access in the call center or branch. There were even numerous cases of apparently unauthorized debits. The problems were so serious that Bafin sent a special representative to Deutsche Bank in the fall. He was supposed to oversee the cleanup there.
The problems have now been largely resolved, Deutsche Bank said. The largest German financial institution also made it clear that there is still room for improvement. As recently announced, the backlog of “customer-critical processes” had been overcome by the end of March, said a bank spokesman. These were also the subject of Bafin’s orders. We are now continuing to work on improvements, it said. “New concerns from our customers in these processes are generally processed within the expected service times.” At the same time, we still have work to do “to further improve our customer service and processes in the coming months.”
Since 2018, more and more bank customers have been complaining to Bafin. This is probably not only due to the mediocre service, but also to the growing popularity of Bafin. “Many more consumers now know us. One of the reasons for this is that we report transparently about our measures,” said Bock. But they also imposed some high fines and announced the appointment of special representatives. Bafin has also become more visible on social media. However, the financial supervisory authority may not and cannot make binding decisions on individual disputes. Regular courts are the contacts here, and you can also turn to ombudsmen and arbitration boards.
Banks are not investing enough in IT
Complaints about insurers and securities service providers also increased. According to Bafin, insurance customers complained primarily about slow claims processing and slow payment of insurance benefits. “Property and casualty insurers were also noticeably often difficult to reach by telephone,” said Bock. When it comes to life insurers, customers are particularly bothered by the amount of the insurance benefit. The number of complaints about insurance increased by a good 20 percent to 7,680 cases. Customer service at securities service providers has often been criticized. Customers complained about long response times, inadequate response letters or difficulties in connection with portfolio transfers.
But Bafin’s growing popularity is probably not the only reason for the increasing number of complaints. It is often simply due to the poor service itself, as many banks have invested too late and inadequately in their IT. Bafin boss Mark Branson recently named cyber attacks and IT breakdowns as the biggest risks for the financial sector and reminded banks to invest sufficiently.
Especially since most financial institutions are currently benefiting enormously from the change in interest rates and therefore have the funds available for investments: According to a study According to the consulting firm EY, the largest European banks generated almost 100 billion euros in net profit in 2023 – more than ever in the past ten years. The banks should not only distribute these profits to shareholders, but also invest in operational security and stability, demanded Branson. But it turns out that banks clearly shouldn’t forget the issue of customer satisfaction either.