Astro Bank fined €6,000 over ads

The consumer protection service said on Thursday it fined Astro Bank €6,000 for omitting to provide the necessary information in advertisements about its personal loans and credit cards that could help consumers make better decisions on whether to enter an agreement with the lender.

This concerns advertisements by AstroBank Public Company Limited in the press on FastCash €5000», FastCash €10000 and FastCash €20000 personal loans, and online ads about its Miles & More, Privilege and Gold credit cards.

The service said the bank was found to violate the law on credit agreements for consumers.
In the case of the personal loans advertisement, the service found that the lender did not make the information visible enough as they were written in small fonts compared to the size of the ad.

As regards the credit card ads, while they mentioned the data concerning the cost of the of credit for consumers (annual subscription and figure relating to the minimum monthly payment), it did not include additional necessary information.

In addition, the service said, they did not make any reference to the consumers’ right of withdrawal, as they should, given that the advertisements in question constituted an invitation to purchase a product.

“Absence and / or inconsistency in the required information and the right of the consumer to withdraw in the advertisments for personal loans and credit cards, may have led consumers to decide to enter into a contract with the lender, which they might not have done had they known the specific information in advance,” the service said.