The year 2023 started with many increases, including the cost of current accounts; According to the Total Cost Indicator (Icc) of accounts offered by six leading banks today, prices have increased between 8% and 26% compared to 2022 and costs range from 28 to 154 euros per year. With increases so high, it’s no surprise that many Italians are choosing to change banks; He said that Facile.it commissioned from the mUp Research and Norstat institutes and that last year 15.1% of current account holders, i.e. 5.6 million people, changed their current accounts, among them 4.4 million of them said they did so because of excessive cost.
You spend an average of 28 to 154 euros per year maintaining a new current account. The increase was observed across all usage profiles and was more felt in accounts that were historically cheaper as a percentage: young people (13% to 22% price increases), low turnover households (10-20%), and retirees with low productivity (10-26%).
Looking more specifically at the reasons that prompted Italians to change current accounts, it turns out that 53.2% did so because they found the basic annual wage too high (up to 59.1% in the 25-34 age group and 56% in the South and South; 3). on the islands); 31.5% because they found the cost of individual operations excessive (41.4% in the 35-44 age group and 34.9% in the South and Islands), and 25% because the costs (fixed or variable) increased excessively during the year. Another reason for the change was the quality of the service: 21.6% stated that they left their account because the service offered was of poor quality, 11.1% did not find home banking valid, and 9.7% stated that they changed their account due to the account. It didn’t have digital capabilities.
Portability, ie the ability to transfer payment services from one’s own account to another credit institution’s account, is a right regulated by law; The transition is free and provides a simplified procedure that must be completed within 12 working days from the signing of the request by the bank, and in case of delay the credit institution will be penalized. Still, setbacks are not lacking, as the survey commissioned by Facile.it reveals; At the time of the change, around 34% (more than 1.5 million people) of those whose expenses were in their old account had problems transferring their residences to their new account. The percentage increases significantly if only the sample from the South is isolated; In the South and Islands, the national rate of 33.7% rises to 44.9%, nearly one in every two owners.
“While it is the duty of the bank to ensure continuity of service and comply with legal deadlines, it is important that the account holder also pays attention to some points, starting with filling out the request form necessary for a positive outcome of the transaction – Explain Facile.it experts – Also, through the portability procedure of all automatic payments and some types of payments It is good to know that it cannot be transferred from one bank to another and therefore it is always worth checking with the bank your credit institution, any exceptions”.
Source: Today IT
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
