The Complaints Service of the Banco de España: what it does and what the 2025 Complaints Report tells us

30/07/2026

The Complaints Service of the Banco de España is there to help bank customers who have a dispute with their bank and have been unable to resolve it through the bank’s own customer service department. To find out more about how it can help, visit our blog or listen to our podcast: CIENxCIENAbre en ventana nueva.

Each year, the service publishes a report on the complaints and enquiries it has received from bank customers. The 2025 Complaints ReportAbre en ventana nueva was published on 21 July 2026.

Key figures

• The service received 30,970 complaints, just over one-third of which were accepted for review (10,856).
• Banks paid out €6.8 million to customers as a result of these cases.
• More than half of all complaints came from Madrid, Andalusia and Catalonia.

Most common reasons for complaints

Fraud involving card payments and bank transfers was the leading reason for complaints accepted in 2025, accounting for almost 28% of the total. Fees and commissions were another major source of complaints, accounting for 13%, while product cancellations also featured prominently.

Complaints about fraudulent card payments and transfers also increased.

Outcome of accepted complaints

• More than half of the complaints ended with a satisfactory outcome for the customer.
• In 33% of cases, the two sides reached an agreement before a formal decision was issued.
• A further 20% ended with a report in the customer’s favour.
• Almost 40% were resolved in the bank’s favour.

The redress rate (i.e. the proportion of cases in which the bank accepted the customer’s claim, the customer withdrew the complaint or the bank acted on a report from the Banco de España that went against it) shows that customers obtained the outcome they were seeking in 79% of accepted cases. Most of these concerned cards, mortgages, accounts, transfers and direct debits. Common issues included fraud, fees and commissions, delays and poor customer service.

Recent developments and trends

The number of complaints accepted fell slightly in 2025, by 1.8%, while the share of decisions in banks’ favour continued to rise.

One likely reason is that banks’ customer service departments are resolving more disputes at an earlier stage. It also suggests that the complaints reaching the Banco de España are increasingly complex and more often involve genuine disagreements between the two sides rather than clear-cut breaches by banks.