Guidance for bank clients in uncertain times

Queries and requests for mediation continue to increase.
While card fraud remains at a high level, the total number of fraud cases is rising steadily.
Credible and understandable communication is essential when dealing with concerned bank clients.

Zurich, 21 May 2025. — At his annual media conference, the Swiss Banking Ombudsman drew a positive overall conclusion for 2024. “Once again, we saw an increase in the number of queries and requests for mediation in the year under review. Nevertheless, we were able to process the cases within the usual timeframe and quality”, reports Andreas Barfuss. While the number of inquiries regarding dormant assets remained fairly stable, the number of requests for mediation continued to rise overall. Regarding the cause of problems, the issue “fraud” has pushed the long-standing issue “settlement” into second place for the first time.

Increase in queries and requests for mediation
The Ombudsman dealt with and closed a total of 2,475 cases in the year under review. Of these, 1,576 cases were settled orally (+6%) and 899 in writing (+3%). The vast majority of the issues were clarified directly with the client and resolved. In 303 cases, the Ombudsman intervened with the financial institution concerned and considered a correction in 172 cases. In 97% of these cases, the financial institution followed the Ombudsman’s recommendation and accommodated the clients. “The high acceptance of our proposals not only underscores the competence of the Ombudsman’s office, but also the high level of willingness to compromise on the part of the institutions” Andreas Barfuss comments.

Many more fraud cases
“The issue of fraud has been a major concern to the Ombudsman for several years and the trend is unbroken” says Andreas Barfuss regretfully. This development is consistent with the dynamic described by the reporting offices and the criminal prosecution authorities and can also be observed abroad. While the number of cases of debit and credit card fraud remained stable at a high level, there was a significant increase in cases in which fraudsters succeeded in triggering payments that were not authorised by the client or authorised under the influence of deception. Customers cannot expect the financial institutions to step in if they are harmed by fraudsters. “Prevention is key”, stresses the Ombudsman, reiterating his recommendation to clients to take the relevant information and warnings from the authorities, financial institutions and consumer protection organisations seriously and to follow them.

Credible and understandable communication
Many cases are submitted to the Ombudsman because clients do not understand the behaviour of a bank and therefore feel unfairly or even unlawfully treated. Given the complex situations that sometimes underlie client requests, it is essential to communicate in a way that is understandable and appropriate to the addressee. Some of the cases submitted can already be resolved by the Ombudsman explaining to the client in a credible and understandable manner the problem underlying their case. The employees of the Ombudsman’s office are therefore specifically trained in communication. If communication difficulties between banks and clients are identified, which may be the case, for example, if there is a high number of similar cases, the Ombudsman’s office will draw the banks’ attention to this.

Press release
Annual Report 2024 (in German)
Annual Report 2024 (in French)
2024 in Brief
Pictures Andreas Barfuss