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Date Published: 02/11/2021

ARCHIVED - Nearly half of Spanish banks break the law by not having a free consumer hotline

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

A new study has found that 13 out of 29 banks in Spain illegally charge for phonecalls

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Nearly half of Spanish banks break the law by not having a free consumer hotline

A Spanish consumer rights watchdog has filed a whole slew of complaints against banks in Spain whose contact phone numbers are not free. The organisation FACUA-Consumers in Action has sent their grievances to the Directorate General of Consumer Affairs after finding that thirteen Spanish banks are failing to comply with the law requiring them to have free telephone numbers.

This was revealed by the association's analysis of the websites of 29 banks, as reported in a press release.

Of the 29 banks analysed, 16 of them do comply with regulations (Abanca, Arquía, Banca Pueyo, Banco Cooperativo Español, Banco Mediolanum, Banco Pichincha, CaixaBank, Unicaja, BBVA, Openbank, Banco Santander, Caixa Guissona, Bankia, Laboral Kutxa, Cajasur and Finantic), providing free telephone numbers that ensure customer service to consumers gratis, whether or not they are customers.

Of the thirteen banks that do not comply with the regulations, three (Bankoa, Evo Banco and ING) do not provide any free telephone line for customer service. Five more of the banks (Banco Sabadell, Bankinter, Wizink Bank, Banco Cetelem and Cajamar), do provide toll-free numbers but restrict them to certain specific needs, thus failing to comply with the duty to provide a toll-free line that guarantees customer service for everyone no matter what their issue is.

Finally, five banks (Andbank, Banco Caminos, Finantia, Banca March and Ibercaja) provide free consumer helplines, but include information on their websites that tries to lead consumers to call them on paid numbers, for which they have been roundly criticised.

This is the fourth study published this year by FACUA about the need for companies to provide a free consumer helpline for basic services of general public interest.

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