RAIFFEISEN BANK DISCLOSES INFORMATION ON ITS SERVICES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WARNING
Raiffeisen Bank disclosed information about restrictions for receiving cashback on credit and debit cards in information resources
In July 2020, the FAS Russia found in the actions of Raiffeisen Bank signs of violation of antimonopoly legislation: while promoting certain products, the bank focused on the cashback that customers receive unconditionally, in which they do not have to comply with any conditions or choose certain categories of goods. At the same time, the rules of the corresponding loyalty programs still had certain restrictions for receiving cashback.
Moreover, in the full terms of service, information about transactions for which cashback will not be credited was specified in a specific format that is too complex for most customers to understand.
“The warning issued by the FAS Russia is aimed at ensuring that both potential and existing clients of Raiffeisen Bank are fully informed about the services they promote, as well as at not-recurrence of such violations in the future work of the bank,” said Andrey Kashevarov, Deputy Head of the FAS Russia.
Within the established deadline, Raiffeisen Bank submitted documents and information to the FAS Russia on the implementation of the warning, as well as requested an extension of the deadline for its execution in a separate part.
“The bank provided the FAS Russia with a reasoned justification for the need to extend the period due to the complexity and duration of certain procedures, such as replacing TV commercials and dismantling advertising materials. The service has taken into account the arguments of credit institutions and extended the period of performance warning prior to October 1, 2020,” said Olga Sergeeva, Head of the Department for Control of Financial Markets of the FAS Russia.
Despite the extension of the deadline, all materials submitted by the bank, in particular, informational materials aimed at attracting consumers, are studied by the FAS Russia to assess the completeness of disclosure of information by Raiffeisen Bank and their availability to citizens.
Reference:
The possibility of extending the period of execution of the warning is provided for in the Part 5 of the Article 39.1 of the Law on Protection of Competition and is often used by business entities. Such a request must be motivated and considered by the service in each case, taking into account the specific circumstances. A positive decision is made if there are sufficient grounds to believe that the prescribed actions cannot be performed within the specified period.
[1] On the official website, at ATMs of a credit institution