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Revolut has been fined €11.5mn in Italy for giving customers misleading information about fees and terms for its investment products.
Italy’s competition watchdog found that the fintech’s advertisements suggesting that customers could trade with 0 per cent commission and invest in fractional shares from as little as €1 were misleading.
The regulator also said that Revolut had restricted some users’ accounts unfairly and had not sufficiently explained the timelines and eligibility criteria to customers when moving them from Lithuanian bank accounts, where it was awarded its European licence, to Italian bank accounts.
Revolut Securities Europe UAB, a group company that offers investment services in Europe, and Revolut Group Holdings Ltd were each fined €5mn for having “failed to provide customers, including during the initial advertising engagement, with clear and comprehensive information about the presence of additional costs and the features of [their] commission-free investments”, according to a statement released on Thursday by Italy’s AGCM, the competition watchdog.
Revolut said that it “strongly disagrees” with the findings and would appeal against the decision in Italian courts.
The regulator, which also has a mandate to protect consumer rights, said such investments included fractional shares that “differ significantly from whole shares” including in terms of investment risk, ownership rights and transferability.
The two companies were fined an additional €1.5mn for failing to provide “clear and comprehensive information” on the requirements and the timeframe for obtaining an Italian international bank account number.
The London-based fintech group has a Lithuanian banking licence that allows it to offer a full suite of products across the EU.
Revolut was founded in 2015 and has about 70mn users.
The fintech secured its full UK banking licence last month after a four-year battle with regulators. The FT previously reported that the application was held up over concerns around the risk controls and management of its fast-growing global operations.
Source:
www.ft.com
