What changes for Italian savers with the approval of the DDL to the Chamber: Stop waste and arbitrary closures, banks will have to motivate any refusal in writing
Anyone who has the right to have a current account. Carried out in the relationship between banks and customers, with approval, unanimously to the Chamber of the DDL current accounts (now the text passes to the Senate). Credit institutions will no longer be able to “get rid of” unwelcome customers, except for serious cases such as recycling and terrorism
Current accounts, what changes
With 254 votes in favor unanimously, the Chamber gave the green light to the DDL on current accounts that introduces two great news for the protection of Italian savers, who often found themselves with closed accounts without detailed explanations, in a country where the active accounts are over 48 million, grown by 13.2% in the last five years. The central novelty is the introduction of the obligation for banks to enter into current account contracts with anyone who requests it, except in cases where reasons related to the contrast to the recycling and financing of terrorism emerge. Even in these cases, the bank will have the obligation to motivate any refusal within ten days, introducing a principle of transparency that has so far been missing in the relationship between the customer and credit institution. This provision was born from the numerous reports of citizens who have been denying or closing the account without precise explanations, with generic communications that spoke of “risk revaluation” or “checks on the management of the account”. The bill aims to fill a regulatory void that, in a context of digitization of payments, risked leaving thousands of people excluded from essential economic operations. Access to the current account thus becomes a right that banks will no longer be able to limit in a discretionary way, rebalancing a often unbalanced relationship in favor of the credit institution.
Current accounts, what changes: ban on closing the account with active balance
The second central point concerns the ban imposed on the banks to unilaterally close the current accounts, both fixed -term and indeterminate, if the sales are in active. Today, in fact, banks can withdraw even without providing detailed explanations. With the definitive approval of the provision, banks will only be able to close the accounts in the presence of reasons related to anti -radiating or anti -terrorism legislation, keeping in all other cases the obligation to keep the relationship with the customer active. It is a change that could have a concrete impact on the system, especially for those people reported as “non -bankable” who risked being excluded from the financial circuit without specific faults.
Access to the current account becomes an non -negotiable right, necessary to receive salaries, home bills and live in an increasingly cashless society. The satisfaction of politics and consumer associations responded the banks and the ABI who contest the measure as a potential limit to contractual freedom and risk assessment, fearing that it can generate rigidity and a competitive imbalance compared to other European countries.
