Calviño announces the possibility of creating a comparator of investment and savings instruments
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The First Vice President and Minister for Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, has announced that she has commissioned the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), together with the Bank of Spain, to identify whether there are possible factors that are preventing large Spanish banks remunerate deposits to retail customers.
In a press conference after holding a meeting with the banking employers’ associations, the Bank of Spain, the consumer associations and the platforms for the elderly, he indicated that this analysis will be to identify “if there are possible factors linked to the structure and functioning of the market that would be affecting the incentives of the entities for the remuneration of deposits”.
“We are going to ask the CNMC if there are possible factors that are preventing the functioning of effective competition in the banking market,” said Calviño, who has once again insisted on the entities that “they must remunerate” deposits, thus transferring the rate hike not only for assets, but also for liabilities.
In this sense, he explained that he is going to extend the mandate that the CNMC has to verify that banks are not transferring the extraordinary tax to banks to end customers to analyze the deposit market.
He has also explained that they will analyze what options there are to create a comparator that can provide “transparent” information to citizens about the different investment and savings instruments, as well as the remuneration for each one of them.
Regarding the review of the Codes of Good Mortgage Practices, Calviño pointed out that up to May 33,000 applications had been registered, of which 19,000 correspond to the old 2012 code, updated last November.
In addition, he has indicated that his department has put on the table the possibility of offering an extension to a maximum of three years of variable-rate mortgage loans. However, he has indicated that the Bank of Spain and the financial sector have considered it “premature” to modify the mortgage codes and have set aside September to study possible recalibrations.
CARE FOR THE ELDERLY AND IN RURAL AREAS
On the other hand, Calviño pointed out that during the meeting the evolution of the protocol to improve the care of the elderly and people with disabilities was positively assessed and it was agreed to continue deepening and improving the measures in three areas: eliminating barriers to improve the access for people with some type of disability, which will also be discussed at the meeting scheduled for September; in measures that guarantee the maintenance of savings cards for people over 65 years of age; and to eliminate the commissions for cash withdrawals from cashiers for these groups.
On the other hand, regarding the protocol to improve care in rural areas, Calviño has indicated that access to cash has already been expanded in 300 municipalities through the installation of ATM points and other types of instruments such as mobile offices, financial agents, Cash receipt in retail stores or rural postmen with the strategic agreement with Correos.
“This means that almost 100,000 people have achieved this access to physical financial services and with the help of companies. With the projects that are underway, we would reach 170,000 people in the coming months,” he stated.
In addition, it has announced that in those municipalities with more than 500 inhabitants where a mechanism for the provision of face-to-face financial services is not already available, white-label ATMs will be established from now until the end of the year.
Thus, it has stated that the volume of the population that does not have access to face-to-face financial services has been reduced from 1.4% to 1% and the intention is to continue in this line to achieve the objective of covering 100% of the population.
“LET’S COLLABORATE”
Regarding the remuneration of deposits and the announcement of the analyzes that the CNMC will carry out, together with the Bank of Spain, the representatives of AEB, CECA and Unacc have omitted to make statements on the payment of liabilities, since these are commercial policies that must be carry out the entities themselves.
However, they have ruled out that this could affect the reputation of Spanish banks and have expressed their willingness to collaborate with the analysis.
“We have nothing to say about the study, nothing more than, as in all the studies carried out by the authorities, we are going to collaborate in everything they ask of us. We understand that there is a very high degree of competition in the system Spanish financial sector”, pointed out the CEO of CECA, José María Méndez.
In addition, the president of the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), Alejandra Kindelán, on behalf of the rest of the associations, has stated that it is still too early to make any modification to the Code of Good Mortgage Practices and has declared the satisfaction of the employers regarding to the three areas in which there are protocols and codes: face-to-face care for the elderly, expansion of the financial network in rural Spain and help to families with their mortgage situations.
For her part, the president of Asufin, Patricia Suárez, the representative of the Platform for the Elderly and Pensioners, Lázaro González, as well as the initiator of the ‘I am older, not an idiot’ campaign, Carlos San Juan, have regretted that it has not concluded the processing of the law to start up the Authority for the Defense of Financial Clients for electoral advancement.
Asufin has also revealed in the meeting the “urgency” that the large Spanish entities “enter now” in the war for deposits.
