Supervisor of Banks: in the first 6 months of 2020 - A 26% increase in public complaints against banks

The corona crisis has led to more complaints against the banks. This emerges from a review by the Supervisor of Banks. According to the survey, in the first half of 2020 there was a 26% increase in public complaints against banks compared to the same period last year. The data show that 2,847 complaints were received in the first half, which also included the first closure. Following the complaints, NIS 1 million was returned to customers.
In total, from the beginning of 2020 to the end of June 2020, the Supervision Authority received 4,594 requests for information on banking issues and written complaints, compared with 3,341 in the corresponding period in 2019 - an increase of 37%. Most of the inquiries were related to the corona crisis and dealt with the issue of credit and deferral of payments, difficulties in withdrawing social security benefits, inability to reach bank branches and the need to withdraw cash, and the like.
The review deals mostly with 2019. As part of the handling of complaints, the banks returned NIS 9 million to their customers last year, of which NIS 2.7 million was reimbursed before the law (ie, there is no official obligation to do so). Most of the public complaints against banks and credit card companies last year were about the quality of service. These include allegations of closing branches and reducing cash register services, the lack of response to customer inquiries to the branch, the lack of availability of the centers and more.
In 2019, the Public Inquiries Unit in the Supervisor of Banks handled 4,865 complaints. In 522 of the complaints (11%), a decision was made as to whether the customer's complaint was justified or unjustified. About 17% of the complaints decided were found to be justified. In second place in the ranking of complaints are the means of payment: checks, credit cards and payment applications with a variety of complaints about impersonation and fraud, misuse of credit information and more.
Mizrahi Tefahot's share in relation to the justified complaints in relation to all the complaints against him was the lowest, for the third year in a row. In second place in this index is Bank Leumi and in third place is Bank Hapoalim. In the rate index of cases in which the Bank acted in favor of the applicant, even though its complaint was not found to be justified, Bank Hapoalim is in first place, in two Mizrahi Tefahot and in the third the International Bank. In the index of quick response to complaints, Mizrahi Tefahot is in first place, Bank Leumi in second place and Discount Bank in third place.