The Banco de España has a publicly available service for general enquiries about bank customers’ rights concerning transparency and good banking practice, the legal channels for exercising these rights and cash-related enquiries. It deals with both telephone and written enquiries and provides information to the public on general aspects of the regulations applicable to their relations with banks.
The information provided is of a general nature, i.e. it is not advisory or case-specific. For specific situations the complaints procedure should be used, in which the evidence provided by the complainant and by the respondent institution will be analysed during the statements of case stage.
This enquiry service is often users’ first point of contact with the Banco de España, when they have doubts about regulatory changes in banking transparency or when incidents occur in a particular financial service or institution. It is a rich source of information and an early warning tool, playing a vital role in two key areas:
- Conduct supervision. Enquiries are a valuable channel for quickly and easily obtaining information on the various problems that bank customers may experience in their dealings with financial institutions. They provide early warning and useful data for properly monitoring financial conduct. Around 50,000 enquiries have been received annually over the last few years.
- Disclosure of information to the public. Our service helps raise awareness about transparency and customer protection regulations, as well as the criteria set by the Institutions’ Conduct Department. Additionally, it supports informative tools related to financial education, such as the outreach websites Portal del Cliente Bancario
and Finanzas para todos.
In short, this service contributes to both financial education and the effective supervision of the banking system. The Complaints Report published each year provides detailed information on the number, type and subject of enquiries received, the most frequently asked questions and the responses given.