Details added (first version posted on 13:25)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 26
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
The quality of banking services in Azerbaijan in some cases leaves much to be desired, said Azerbaijan's Banking Ombudsman Ikram Karimov.
“Customers are often unhappy with the illegal [in their opinion] accrual of interest on loans, charging fees for banking services, the procedure of issuing mortgage loans, and other issues,” said Karimov at a meeting of the International Coordination Council of Banking Associations of the CIS, Central and Eastern Europe in Baku Oct. 26.
He noted that quite often there is a situation when clients are not informed about all the conditions for obtaining a loan and later the clients make new “discoveries” about loan terms, which forces them to apply to the court.
“Such a situation also affects the image of conscientious banks that conduct an open policy towards their clients. All this focuses on the search for new effective ways and means of protecting the rights of individuals who are bank customers,” said Karimov.
A banking ombudsman started operating in Azerbaijan in September 2017.
Baku hosts a meeting of the International Coordination Council of Banking Associations of the CIS, Central and Eastern Europe. Participants of the event discuss the experience of various countries in creation and operation of banking ombudsman institutions, current problems in this sphere, and other issues.
Representatives of banking sectors of the CIS, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and other countries take part in the conference.