The Association of Banks says that it will not stop charging fees for processing client loans, despite the fact that the High Court recently ruled in favor of citizens in a dispute against a bank.
The verdict was brought on the basis of a collective lawsuit filed by the Center for Consumer Protection, and their lawyer Miloš Vukčević pointed out that it was established that banks had been violating the collective rights of consumers for years and were illegally charging a loan processing fee of 1 to 1.7%, and that the verdict emphasized that similar behavior is prohibited so that banks do not continue with such a practice through a fixed amount.
"At CEZAP, we wrote to the Central Bank and the governor, and as far as I am informed, she sent a letter asking the banks to adjust the loan processing fees. It is not said that the bank is not entitled to compensation, but those administrative costs that it manages to prove. However, in this court proceeding, during this period, the banks failed to prove what the actual costs are that they have and in this way they put the consumer in an unequal position because they did not explain to him in a transparent manner what those costs really were, whether these there are costs," said Vukčević.
Bratislav Pejaković from the Association of Banks said that the costs of loan processing are realistic from several aspects.
"From the technical aspect, it's software, hardware, interventions by software owners who adjust each intervention on hardware and software is very expensive. On the other hand, you have the consumption and time and training of people to look at the documentation that needs to be received, for which an evaluation is needed, to see the creditworthiness of a particular client. If the amounts are larger, then management is involved with decisions." Pejakovic pointed out.
Such costs, however, are considered regular in CEZAP.
Referring to data from the Central Bank, Vukčević pointed out that banks charged 2023 million euros based on this fee in 7,3.
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