One of the solutions proposed by banks to consumers is to stay the court proceedings, and attempt to find an amicable settlement, by negotiation with the aid of the Alternative Banking Dispute Resolution Centre (ABDRC). Besides measures, such as adjustment of interest and fee costs, instalment suspension, or loan restructuring, banks also recommend their consumers to turn to ABDRC, even when they have court proceedings with banks in progress. In 2021 and early this year, more than 120 court cases between consumers and banks came to an end because the parties applied for amicable settlement via ABDRC.

“Here, the interest is not just of consumers and banks, but there is an impact on the overall economic since the provisions banks are required to set up for pending disputes are actually money that can be used instead for financing purposes”, says Alexandru Păunescu, the NBR representative in the ABDRC Steering Board. (more…)

Sharp price increases, the war at Romania’s borders, or increases in interest rates are concern for the Romanian consumers of financial services and products. Representatives of the banking system, through the Alternative Banking Dispute Resolution Centre (ABDRC), reassure consumers that attempts are being made to find solutions to the problems encountered in their relations with banks, and that the banking system is prepared for potentially unforeseen situations. People are advised to advise their bank as early as possible whenever they encounter such difficulties. (more…)

The average time required to complete a negotiation between a consumer and a bank via the Alternative Banking Dispute Resolution Centre (ABDRC) dropped to 33 days in 2021. In fact, conciliators now address the problems reported by consumers 40% faster than in the previous years. The more experience the conciliators acquire in the Centre, the more efficient they are in the conciliation process. In March 2022, Camelia Popa, Roxana Mustățea and Septimiu Stoica exceeded 200 negotiations in ABDRC. Also, the average time needed to fill out an application on the website www.csalb.ro reduced by close to 1 minute. (more…)

For the first time in Romania, a company and a financial and banking institution negotiated their grievances with the aid of the Alternative Banking Dispute Resolution Centre (ABDRC) and thus stayed out of the court of law. Meanwhile, tens of lawsuits in different stage of the proceedings are dropped either at the request of consumers or at the recommendation of banks for their underlying disputes to be further settled amicably with the help of an ABDRC conciliator. For legal entities, ABDRC may only help them settle disputes that concern payment services/instruments or electronic money issuing. (more…)

2021 was the most efficient of the six years of operation for the Alternative Banking Dispute Resolution Centre (ABDRC). 9 of 10 negotiations between consumers and banks concluded with an agreement of the parties and acceptance of the solutions proposed by the ABDRC conciliators. Also, the rate of applications rejected by banks saw an all-time low: 17% across the entire banking system. In fact, more than eight of ten applications featuring negotiable claims (lending cost reduction for instance), found solutions via the Centre. Moreover, 2021 saw the highest benefits obtained from negotiations: EUR 1.94 million, i.e. 45% more than in the previous year. The total amount of these benefits came close to EUR 6 million for all years 2016-2021. (more…)

The last two years of crisis have significantly altered the profile of consumers approaching the Alternative Banking Dispute Resolution Centre (ABDRC). Having reviewed the 2,525 applications for negotiation with banks/NBFIs filed to ABDRC in 2021, we see that the consumer’s profile of financial and banking services is prevailingly a man of Bucharest, aged between 41 and 50 years, with a personal loan in RON, who asks the bank to reduce their lending costs. The benefits obtained from negotiation are significantly higher than in the year before the crisis. While the average amount of the benefits obtained from a negotiation used to be approx. EUR 2,500 in 2019, this year it went above EUR 4,300. (more…)

After close to two years of pandemic, we look into the changes that have occurred in the relationship between consumers and banks/NBFIs. ABDRC conciliators made a number of recommendations to the financial and banking institutions further to this years’ meetings between the Centre’s representatives and those of banks and NBFIs. During these close to two years, consumers filed the highest number of requests to negotiate with banks and NBFIs, meaning more than 4,750 in 2020 and 2021 together, to date. Still, approximately one third of them were aimed at having consumers deregistered from the Credit Office, an instance where ABDRC can only play an immaterial role (only about 10% of these requests being settled directly by the banks and NBFIs that entered them in the Office’s register). (more…)

In the first nine months of the year, as many as 445 consumers went through the entire conciliation process (application filing, negotiation, final resolution accepted by both parties), or reached an amicable settlement directly with banks/NBFIs, having first approached the Alternative Banking Dispute Resolution Centre (ABDRC). The benefits stemming from consumers’ negotiations with banks amounted to EUR 1.24 million in the first three quarters, whereas the total amount of the benefits over the five years of operation has exceeded EUR 5.25 million. For a family of Teleorman, the bank writes off a debt of CHF 44,330. This year, the number of applications intended for banks has decreased, but the negotiations have proven to be much more effective: 90% of these concluded with reconciliation of the parties. (more…)

ABDRC received more than 130 applications for negotiation with banks from consumers subject to enforcement proceedings. While the banks had already commenced proceedings to recover overdue amounts from customers, which prevents the parties to negotiate via ABDRC, in 5 different cases, they accepted to enter conciliation. All 5 cases were aimed at the bank accepting payment commitments, lifting garnishments, and suspending seizure of immovable properties, plus consumers bearing the enforcement costs. (more…)