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The Bank of Lithuania has reported a dramatic decline in complaints related to payment services, with the number of grievances dropping nearly threefold in 2024.
The central bank received a total of 812 complaints last year, compared with 1,408 in 2023, a significant drop that it says is down to improved supervisory efforts.
According to the Bank of Lithuania, complaints about payment services accounted for 62 percent of all grievances, followed by insurance at 14 percent and lending at 12 percent.
Meanwhile, among financial service providers, banks attracted the highest share of complaints, 41 percent, followed by electronic money institutions at 23 percent and insurers at 13 percent.
“Consumer complaints help to clarify shortcomings in financial services. We aim to draw the attention of financial market participants to them and ensure that problems are resolved,” said Vaidas Cibas, director of the financial market supervision department at the Bank of Lithuania.
“Last year, we started applying a risk-based complaint handling model,” he continued. “This allows us to focus on the most problematic areas and effectively seek solutions. This practice has paid off; last year we recorded a significant decrease in complaints.”
The impact of regulatory activity
The Bank of Lithuania attributed the improvement to a series of proactive measures, including heightened scrutiny of financial institutions and a greater focus on de-risking practices.
In the second half of 2024, the regulator identified multiple cases in which financial institutions failed to properly communicate account closures, fee changes or the handling of suspended payments.
Institutions were required to provide detailed responses supported by evidence, and several violations were recorded and factored into ongoing supervisory activities.
Insurance cases rose slightly, but the central bank said that credit-related complaints had decreased modestly from 103 to 96, with a notable rise in fraud-related cases.
Around 35 percent of these complaints involved consumer credit, often stemming from scams in which fraudsters convinced individuals to take out loans in their own names under false pretences.
The Bank of Lithuania emphasised that all complaints serve as important indicators for market supervision, adding that although it reviews whether legal requirements are being met, it does not adjudicate disputes involving compensation, which are handled through separate resolution procedures.
Continued enforcement activity
In related news, the Bank of Lithuania has signed administrative agreements with two financial institutions, electronic money institution Corporate Services UAB and issuer AB Akola group, which specialises in agricultural activity.
Following an inspection, the central bank found that Latvian firm Corporate Services, which has not responded to Vixio’s request for comment, had failed to fully comply with regulations on international sanctions, including gaps in internal investigations and verification processes.
After the company acknowledged the violations and improved its compliance systems, a fine of €16,000 was imposed.
