Due to the dynamic development of digital banking services, consumers of the financial market are increasingly becoming victims of so-called unauthorised financial transactions, a situation in which money disappears from the account without the consumer’s knowledge. The scale of the problem is still growing, therefore the Financial Ombudsman invited international guests to take a look at this issue as part of a panel during the 30th Economic Forum in Karpacz.
Any consumer who uses electronic banking may fall victim to an unauthorised payment transaction. Digital payments dominate the financial market and are particularly popular in Poland. The Financial Ombudsman receives more and more requests for intervention concerning unauthorised transactions. The growing number of complaints may suggest that not all banks operating on the Polish market have reliably adapted their procedures to the legal state in force since the entry into force of the changes related to the implementation of PSD II – Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market amending Directives 2002/65/EC, 2009/110/EC, 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No. 1093/2010 and repealing Directive 2007/64/EC (OJ EU.L.2015.337.35 of 2015.12.23 as amended).
With the development of technology and increasing digitalisation, it is worth ensuring that systemic changes are made to ensure that consumers are properly protected against cybercrime.
The Financial Ombudsman of Poland, Mariusz J. Golecki, Ph.D.
– Today’s debate shows that the existing directives are not sufficient; they may need to be extended. We expect to see more and more new ways for criminals to operate as technology evolves. In Q1 2021 alone, more than 60,000 events involving unauthorised transactions were reported, according to a report by the National Bank of Poland. The Financial Ombudsman Office received 700 complaints in the first half of this year, and we expect that there will be as many as 1,500. These are often the most serious cases, where, in addition to emptying the account, a loan is taken out – says the Financial Ombudsman, Mariusz J. Golecki, Ph.D.
With the increase in number of digital payments, protection against unauthorised transactions has become one of the main concerns for the safety of customers of financial market operators. The situation of consumers in EU countries was discussed by Ger Deerig, Ombudsman for Financial Services and Pensions in Ireland, dr. Johannes Meier from the University of Magburg, dr. Denisa Jindrichova representing the Czech National Bank, dr. Csaba Kandrács, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Hungary and the Financial Ombudsman Mariusz J. Golecki, Ph.D., prof. of the University of Łódź The meeting was chaired by Jakub Szczerbowski, Ph.D., prof. of the University of Łódź, Director of the Banking and Capital Market Customer Department.
The discussion allowed for an exchange of experience and views on the issue of unauthorised transactions. The panelists focused on the possibilities to prevent and counteract unauthorised transactions, court practice related to the occurrence of unauthorised transactions, functioning of state authorities other than courts competent to protect against unauthorised transactions.
“Unauthorised transactions as an example of contemporary threats to customer security in the financial market” are, together with the debate “Franc loans today and tomorrow in the European context”, discussions organised as part of the XXX Economic Forum in Karpacz.
Another discussion with international guests will take place tomorrow. This time the Financial Ombudsman will devote the debate to the issue:
Consumer protection in the financial market in the European perspective (9 September of this year, 1:20 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.).
The event will be streamed directly on the Financial Ombudsman’s Facebook profile.
