Is there any point in filing a complaint with the Banco de España?

10/07/2019

First, your bank must notify the Banco de España of whether it accepts the criteria stated in the report and whether or not it decides to rectify its conduct.

After analysing the bank’s response, the Banco de España assesses whether the rectification proposed is acceptable or not. As a result of all this, you may have received an explanation from your bank about what has happened or even have obtained a refund.

In any event, remember that the Banco de España’s decisions are not binding, that is, banks do not have to rectify their conduct. However, they usually do so voluntarily in a good number of cases.

If they do not rectify their conduct, do not despair:

• If you decide to take your bank to court, the Banco de España's report may be considered by the judges or courts hearing your case as an authoritative opinion, within the framework of the principle of free evaluation of evidence.

• The reports undoubtedly constitute very significant evidence of the market conduct of banks with a view to their supervision by the Banco de España, which can commence inspection proceedings that may occasionally lead to hefty fines.

Lastly, here are some figures:

• In 2018 seven out of ten customers managed to get their bank to rectify its conduct. However, the numbers vary from bank to bank: for more details, see the latest Complaints ReportAbre en ventana nueva.

• Last year several banks were sanctionedAbre en ventana nueva with fines ranging from tens of thousands to millions of euros.

So now you know, every complaint counts. it’s time to act.