OCU launches a campaign allowing consumers to demand commissions charged for cash withdrawals

The new regulation governing these commissions has a fundamental flaw in that it does not set a clear limitation as to the amount of said commissions. These should have been set at levels similar to those which banks have been charging for this service in recent years. Spain’s main financial institutions have taken advantage of this flaw and have begun to charge disproportionally high commissions for cash withdrawals made by clients of other entities.

OCU reports that, for consumers, these modifications are extremely negative: the two Euros, or another similar charge, that some banks have set for cash withdrawals made by clients of other entities far exceed that which was expected for providing this service. OCU feels that this is an exorbitant amount and reminds consumers that even the Ministry of Economy itself stated that there was no justification for charging two Euros for a service which cost only 0.75€ before. The implementation of this commission will severely reduce consumers’ options when wanting to make cash withdrawals without being charged fees. Now, consumers will have a much harder time knowing how much a cash withdrawal will cost them at each cash point beforehand.

Moreover, banks are failing to fulfil a key aspect of the new law: financial entities have not complied with the legal obligation to notify consumers of the application of these new and abusive conditions at least two months in advance. OCU reminds users that the commissions charged for cash withdrawals made at cash points are specified in the contracts they sign when they receive a card. If these commissions change, banks are obligated to inform their clients of said changes at least two months in advance.  Therefore, financial institutions cannot increase the commissions they charge until their clients are duly notified.

OCU’s goal with this campaign is to prevent consumers from becoming hostages in the commercial battles taking place among financial institutions. Furthermore, we want to ensure that banks are made to face the consequences resulting from their failure to properly notify their clients. For this reason, OCU encourages all those affected by the “Cash Point Wars” to come together and file a complaint in order to recover those commissions we feel have been wrongfully charged from the financial entities in question. In addition to this, OCU has not ruled out taking other actions in order to defend the users affected by the charging of fees we consider to be disproportionate, especially when compared to what was previously being charged.

Starting today, OCU is kicking off a campaign to bring together affected users, inform them of the current situation and provide the appropriate written complaint forms on their website “Mobilise against abusive bank practises” (http://www.ocu.org/movilizate/abuso-comisiones-cajero/).

For more information, please contact Eva Jiménez(press). Telephone: 917226061 prensa@ocu.org