Antitrust concluded the investigation against Intesa Sanpaolo and its digital bank Isybankaccepting the commitments proposed by the two companies, believing that these eliminate the possible profiles of unfairness detected.
The Authority had initiated proceedings for alleged unfair commercial practices regarding the methods of reorganization of the Group, which involved the transfer of over 2.4 million customers – mainly digital – from Intesa Sanpaolo to Isybank. According to the AGCM, account holders had their current accounts with Intesa Sanpaolo unilaterally closed and a new relationship with Isybank activated, without some services previously used, without complete and accessible communication and without their explicit consent.
What Intesa will do now
The accepted commitments guarantee all customers clear and exhaustive information on the nature and conditions of the transfer, communicated from 10 January to 29 February 2024 via a banner accessible from the Isybank app or from the Intesa Sanpaolo app and website. The transition had been planned in two tranches: the first, called Branch I, which occurred on October 16, 2023, concerned approximately 275 thousand customers; the second, Branch II, included more two million customers whose transfer should have taken place on 18 March 2024.
Branch I customers will be able, by 31 December 2026, return to Intesa Sanpaolo with better economic conditions compared to those prior to the transfer: a current account with the same or lower fee, debit cards with free fees, free conditions on transactional services and, possibly, a fee-free securities deposit. Upon request, customers will also be reassigned their original IBAN.
As compensation, all Branch I customers will receive the free relationship with Isybankfrom the date of transfer until 30 June 2024 or until the date of any termination of the relationship, if earlier.
As for Branch II customers, the measures proposed for information and implementation methods are similar to those envisaged for Branch I customers. The communication to Branch II customers was aimed at informing them of the commitment made by the two banks to transfer to Isybank only those customers who have explicitly given their consent to the transfer of the account and the related contractual changes.
The move to Isybank and the Antitrust stop
The story began in mid-2023, when Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, announced the arrival of Isybank as the group’s new digital bank. The institute had identified approximately 2.4 million customers with predominantly digital operationi.e. those under 65 who had not visited a branch even once in the last year and did not have a securities deposit, excluding however those with balances exceeding 100 thousand euros.
Intesa Sanpaolo had planned the two-step transfer. The first phase was carried out on 16 October, involving 275 thousand customers. However, more than 5 thousand of them considered the transfer “unclear” due to the method with which it was carried out, therefore requesting the intervention of the Competition and Market Authority, which in fact blocked the passage.
At the end of November, therefore less than a month after the start of the investigation, the Authority had decided to intervene in a more incisive way and to adopt a precautionary procedure to prevent the transfer to the digital bank of Intesa Sanpaolo account holders who had not provided your express consent. At the same time, anyone who declared against it would be able to maintain their previous current account under the same conditions. Intesa thus sent a new communication in January 2024, in order to ensure that all interested parties were informed of the situation. The deadline to express your consent to the account transfer was set for February 29, 2024, with three different current account options available: isyLight, isySmart and isyPrime.
The second step occurred in March 2024, involving 2 million people.
Unc: “Good, but now let’s get some correct information”
“Excellent news. An important victory for the 5 thousand consumers we supported in this matter – he states Massimiliano Dona, president of the National Consumers Union – Now for Branch II customers, i.e. the over 2 million customers who were initially supposed to be transferred from 18 March 2024, express consent is expected for their move to Isybank, which is what we have asked the bank from the beginning, before submitting the complaint to the Antitrust. Now consumers will finally be free to choose, without forcing their will.” “We are also very satisfied with the remedies adopted to compensate for the inconveniences of the dissatisfied, who will now be able to return to the Intesa until December 2026, get their old Iban back, receive compensation and an improvement in their contractual position” continues Dona.
But the UNC is now pushing for all customers to be correctly informed of all these new possibilities and conditions. “For this reason we ask that a new banner be inserted on the Isybank App for two months and that there be a specific full-screen pop-up on the site,” explains Dona.
The only flaw, in fact, is that for the 275 thousand customers of Branch I, i.e. those who had already been transferred as of 16 October 2023, unlike the others, a express consent for the transfer, albeit in retrospect. Furthermore, the previous banner, posted from 10 January to 29 February 2024, was not only posted for too limited a period, but contained information that is now incomplete (for example, it was not written about the possibility of getting the old Iban back) or wrong, such as the fact that they could return to the Intesa until 31 December 2024, while now the deadline has become 31 December 2026. “This is why new information is needed for Branch 1 customers” concludes Dona.
Codacons also rejoices: “The closure of the Antitrust investigation into the Intesa Sanpaolo and Isybank case has finally guaranteed clarity and transparency on an affair that had worried thousands of the bank’s customers. We welcome with satisfaction the closure of the case which served to improve communications from credit institutions and transparency in favor of account holders”.
