Banks must ease access to basic payment accounts
Banca d'Italia has issued supervisory guidance requiring payment service providers to eliminate unjustified obstacles to basic payment accounts. The central bank found that access to these essential financial inclusion tools is frequently discouraged.
Unjustified hurdles under scrutiny
Analyses conducted by Banca d'Italia revealed that financial institutions across Italy have been unjustifiably hindering or discouraging consumer access to basic payment accounts.
In response, the Italian central bank issued formal supervisory guidance instructing commercial banks, Poste Italiane, and all authorized payment service providers to immediately review and amend their internal rules, procedures, and commercial practices.
The supervisory communication mandates that providers strictly adhere to established regulatory frameworks while embedding principles of substantive fairness in customer relationships.
Institutions are required to actively eliminate any artificial barriers that impede access, ensuring that consumers can open and maintain basic accounts without facing unnecessary procedural friction or discouragement.
Guaranteed access under EU rules
Introduced under EU Directive 2014/92/EU, the basic account serves as a core vehicle for financial inclusion.
European law guarantees all legal EU residents the right to open a basic account covering essential daily transactions.
For lower-income groups, payment service providers must supply this service free of charge.
Institutions are required to offer these basic accounts while upholding standard anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing obligations, ensuring compliance without creating improper exclusion.
Inclusion demands enforcement
The guidance exposes how banks routinely undermine basic financial rights through subtle procedural barriers.
Reiterating existing rules without imposing direct penalties is unlikely to change entrenched commercial behavior.
Regulators must back these expectations with tough enforcement to achieve genuine financial inclusion.