FAS RUSSIA ISSUED WARNING TO THE ASIA-PACIFIC BANK

The Bank has worsened the conditions for cashback accrual without notifying customers

The credit organization implements the “Status” premium package of banking services, and one of its attractive consumer properties is the loyalty program. It provided for the accrual of “cashback” points in the amount of 10-15% in the selected category and 1% in other categories when making purchases in the amount of 25,000 rubles.

By the order of April 28, 2020, the APB canceled the accrual of points for other categories, retaining only accruals for special categories, and increased the minimum purchase amount required for accrual of points to 50,000 rubles. These changes came into force “backdated” from April 1, 2020. However, the Bank had to inform customers at least 3 working days before the date of introduction of the new tariffs.

In fact, the Asian-Pacific Bank disclosed information on the change in terms to its clients a month later. Based on the previous conditions, consumers did not receive the expected cashback at the end of April 2020.

“As a result of these actions, the APB could gain an advantage over competing credit organizations. Not receiving timely information on further worsen of loyalty programs, consumers have been deprived of the opportunity to pre-evaluate new conditions of the Bank to make a conscious decision about the continuation of the ATB service or the refusal of services of the Bank to other credit institutions,” said Olga Sergeeva, Head of Department for Control over Financial Markets of the FAS Russia. “In addition, the Bank did not incur reasonable expenses that would have been unavoidable if it had implemented the procedure for changing the terms in good faith.”

Thus, in the actions of the “Asian-Pacific Bank”, the FAS Russia revealed signs of violation of the Law on Protection of Competition and issued a warning to the organization. “In addition to carrying out actions aimed at informing customers, the Bank should also pay customers money in the amount of income they have not received as a result of under - accrual of cashback points due to unilateral changes to the “Status” program without prior notice,” said Olga Sergeeva.