New edition of the EBA Consumer Trends Report
23/05/2023
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published its Consumer Trends Report 2022/23. This report covers the developments, trends and most important issues for EU consumers in retail banking products and services (such as mortgages, consumer credit, payment services, e-money, payment accounts and deposits), as well as the main problems experienced by these consumers.
The key problems identified in the report include:
- (i) Fraud in retail payments, where two main issues were identified: (a) the significant increase in unauthorised payment transactions, triggered by how easy it is for fraudsters to contact consumers using technology and their skill in making this contact seem genuine; and (b) the rise in fraud that encourages consumers to make payments and/or investments in crypto-assets.
- (ii) Overindebtedness and arrears, where there are three main concerns: (a) excessive consumer indebtedness due to the poor creditworthiness assessment procedures used by some financial institutions; (b) the greater need for credit because of the increase in the cost of living and higher interest rates; and (c) greater access to credit facilities through digital channels that may increase indebtedness (for example, the emergence of new payment trends such as Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and peer-to-peer lending (P2P) which fall outside the regulatory sphere).
The report also sets out the measures taken both by national authorities and by the EBA to alleviate these problems, e.g. through the implementation of new regulations or through supervisory actions.
Lastly, the report includes a box that summarises the main measures implemented by national competent authorities and governments to support consumers faced with the significant rise in interest rates as a result of the current strong inflationary process. These are most notably measures for mortgage borrowers, including the introduction of a new code of good practice to alleviate the effects of higher mortgage rates, restructuring of the debt of vulnerable households and renegotiation of variable rate mortgages; structural measures that seek to improve and increase mortgage market transparency; and financial education initiatives to raise consumers’ awareness of how inflation affects their financial situation.
The report is based on data provided by national competent authorities, including the Banco de España, and comments received from other interested agents, such as consumer associations, banking associations and member institutions of the European financial dispute resolution network (FIN-NET).
For more detailed information, click on the following link to consult the full EBA report: https://www.eba.europa.eu/sites/default/files/document_library/Publications/Reports/2023/1054879/Consumer%20Trends%20Report%202022-2023.pdfAbre en ventana nueva.
