• ING Bank Śląski, Getin Noble Bank and PKO BP improperly informed about changes in the fees.
• Following the decisions of UOKiK, they will settle up with consumers for the increased fees and temporarily offer some services for free.
• These are subsequent decisions of UOKiK regarding the durable medium, there are 4 procedures currently under way.

The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection is in the process of verifying the manner in which the banks change the terms and conditions of their contracts with the consumers, for instance, the value of the fees. The Office has already issued decisions regarding 14 banks which improperly informed the customers about changes in the rates or regulations. The most recent ones concern Getin Noble Bank, ING Bank Śląski and PKO BP.

Durable medium

The banks must inform the customers about the planned changes in the terms and conditions of contracts two months in advance. They are obliged to justify the increases – to indicate their legal grounds, for instance, the provision in the contract stating that they are possible in the event of a specific increase in the inflation rate, and to refer it to the actual situation. As the Office’s procedures have indicated, they did not always do this. For that reason the consumers were unable to verify whether the increases were justifiable.

The Office also checked whether the banks, in line with the laws, gave the customers information about changes in the terms and conditions of contracts on the so-called durable medium. It is supposed to guarantee that the bank, after sending information to the consumer, is unable to interfere in it or to delete it and that the consumer is able to access it for a specific duration of time, for instance, also after the contract is terminated. A durable medium can be, for instance, a document saved on a CD, e-mail (if all information required by the law is contained in it), letter in paper form. It can also be a message sent as part of electronic banking, provided that it fulfils the statutory characteristics of a durable medium and that the bank informs the customer about such correspondence. It is also important that the customer – regardless of the types of communication available at the bank – is able to consent to the given form of contact which, at the same time, must fulfil the characteristics of a durable medium. The bank should not impose from above a single method of providing information about increases in the fees chosen by itself. The form of communication must take into account the technical capabilities of the recipients, for instance, seniors, where many of them do not use computers.

Meanwhile, the banks provided information in recent years to customers about fee increases solely through their own e-banking systems. They did not fulfil the requirements of a durable medium because, for instance, the bank was able to change or delete such information. Also, it was not sure whether the customer knows at all about such correspondence if, for instance, he rarely logged into the system, could have had little time to react to the changes (for instance, to question them, to terminate the contract without consequences) or even learned about them after they had come into effect.

Decisions of UOKiK

- We obligated subsequent banks to award compensation to aggrieved customers. They are supposed to refund them any potential overpayments and offer them some free services for a certain period of time. This might be worth taking advantage of. So, if a bank sent you a notification about our decision, do not throw it away. You will learn from it which compensation you are eligible for, what you must do to receive it and how much time you have for that - says Marek Niechciał, the Office’s President.

The latest decisions of UOKiK concern:

• Getin Noble Bank – the customers may receive a refund of overpayments ensuing from the increases about which they have not been properly informed (the condition is signing an annex) and may count on an exemption for 2 months from fees for domestic transfers from their account made at the bank’s branch,
• ING Bank Śląski – the customers may receive a refund of overpayments ensuing from the increases about which they have not been properly informed (the condition is signing an annex) and may count on an exemption for 1 month from fees for withdrawing cash using a debit card from any ATM in Poland,
• PKO BP - the customers may receive a refund of overpayments ensuing from the increases about which they have not been properly informed (the condition is signing an annex) and for periodical, free: text massages, transfers to the Social Insurance Institution and Inland Revenue through an infoline and online service or a mobile channel, spread of a single transaction using a credit card (PLN 200-1,500) into instalments (up to 6 months) with a 0% interest rate, or choice of a non-standard image of a debit card.

If you are a customer of one of these banks, do not miss the notification and make sure that you take advantage of the compensation. Details and dates can be found in the decisions of UOKiK (available only in Polish).

Previously UOKiK issued decisions imposing obligations on: Credit Agricole Bank Polska, Euro Bank, Bank Handlowy, Bank Ochrony Środowiska, Alior Bank, Bank Millennium, BZ WBK (currently Santander Bank Polska), Deutsche Bank, Idea Bank, Pekao SA, Plus Bank. There are 4 procedures currently under way pending against: BGŻ BNP Paribas, BPH, mBank and Raiffeisen.

Consumer support:

Phone: +48 801 440 220 or +48 22 290 89 16 – consumer helpline
Email: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
Branches of the Consumer Federation
Consumer ombudsmen – in your town or district
Financial Ombudsman - when a complaint has been rejected by a financial institution

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone: +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 314
Email: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL