The Retail Credit Department of ABI carries out constant monitoring of consumer credit market trends, also in collaboration with the association of specialized intermediaries, Assofin.
Each year, generally in June, a public conference on consumer credit in Italy and from an international perspective takes place in Rome.
Monitoring Fraud centre on consumer credit
On the issue of preventing fraud perpetrated on the banking/financial system in providing credit to households through the so-called identity theft, a questionnaire was prepared together with Assofin. This questionnaire was aimed at assessing the qualitative/quantitative profiling of the phenomenon. The results of the survey confirm the necessity to create a system to prevent this phenomenon, by allowing financiers to access public databases that today are still inaccessible (such as INPS [National Institute for Social Security], INAIL [National Institute for Insurance against Labour Accidents]) so they may be able to verify the truthfulness of the information provided by the borrower when executing the contract. This access would be limited to verifying/comparing the truthfulness of the information provided when executing the contract. The sector is quite proactive in creating suitable legislation on this issue.
Credit brokerage
The use of brokers and agents in financial services is crucial for banks and financial intermediaries that do not have their own network of counters. The provision of precise rules of conduct and professional standards defined for firms operating in the placement of credit products was identified as the best way to guarantee the maximum amount of consumer protection.
While awaiting for lawmakers to finalize a framework, with respect to the “Impegni per la Qualità” [Commitments for Quality] prepared by the PattiChiari Consortium (www.pattichiari.it), two codes of ethics were drafted for credit brokers - “Code of Ethics for credit brokers on the consulting and placing of credit products” and “Code of Ethics for credit brokers used for providing advice on debt collection by banks or financial intermediaries (under art. 17 of Law no. 262/2005)” – designed to define a minimum set of principles (in addition to what is provided for under the law) which guarantees that the agent, in line with the principles of independence and impartiality with respect to the broker and customer, provides the customer with the maximum comprehensibility and knowledge in consulting and placing products as well as banking services.