Today, the Committee for Public Enterprises approved the new Banking Law (Customer service). The bill was initiated by MK Yoni Meshariki, to put an end to customers continuing to pay fees for services that were initially offered to them for free for a limited period of time.

Most customers forget that the free 'opening offer' has an expiration date and they continue to use the service unaware that they are now paying for it. 

According to the bill, the banks will have an obligation to inform the customers 21 days before the expiration of the benefit or if there is a change to the account conditions.

In addition, immediately upon receiving the notification from the bank, customer are able to cancel the contract if they wish to. The bill was raised after it became clear that the banks are subject to a low standard in the Consumer Protection Law, which results in customers being overcharged.

The bill states "The purpose of the bill is to oblige banks to notify the customer in an effective manner regarding the termination of a banking benefit granted to them, thus improving the protection of the consumer. Today, banks are subject to a lower consumer standard than that to which other businesses are subject to under the Consumer Protection Law. The result is that bank customers find themselves surprised in cases of increased fees or interest rates since many times the notification of the termination of the benefit does not reach them in an accessible manner. Customers are also challenged by the bureaucracy required in order to renew the benefit or terminate the contract following a change or termination of the benefit." 

MK Yoni Meshariki said "The bill will put an end to the illegal phenomenon of the public paying unnecessary fees to banks without their knowledge, for services that were marketed as free for a limited period, such as credit card fees, and thus will improve the consumer protection of customers."
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