Notification on the manner of submitting and maintaining of customer complaint, and the possibility of filing a complaint by National Bank of Serbia

Dear clients,

We inform you that, if you believe that your rights and interests in doing business with API Bank a.d. Belgrade (hereinafter: the Bank) injured, that the Bank does not comply with the provisions of the law and other regulations governing financial and payment services, general terms of business or obligations from the concluded contract, you have the right to submit a complaint to the Bank in which you express your dissatisfaction with the Bank’s actions or indicate the Bank’s omissions, or indicate that some of your rights or interests have been violated.

The right and deadline for submitting complaints

The right and deadline for submitting complaints:

  • A natural person who uses or has used the Bank’s financial services or approached the Bank for the purpose of using financial services, namely:
    • A natural person who uses or has used financial services, or intends to use them for purposes that are not intended for his business or other commercial activity,
    • an entrepreneur or a farmer, except an entrepreneur in the capacity or in connection with the capacity of a representative of a payment service provider or a person entrusted by the Bank with the activity of providing payment services.
    •  The client, in terms of the right to file a complaint, is also considered to be the provider of the means of securing the Bank’s claims against the client, a natural person, an entrepreneur and a farmer.

The deadline for submitting a written complaint to the Bank is 6 (six) months from the day of awareness that a violation of rights has been committed, but no later than 3 (three) years from the day when that violation of rights was committed

  • A legal entity only as a user of payment services in the sense of the law regulating payment services, except for the legal entity of the service provider in the sense of the Decision and the legal entity in the capacity or in connection with the capacity of the representative of the payment service provider or the person to whom the Bank, as a service provider, has entrusted the activity of providing payment services.
    The deadline for submitting a written complaint is 3 (three) years from the day when the right or legal interest was violated.
  • Client – a legal entity that uses the Bank’s services on the basis of loan agreements, deposit agreements, safe deposit agreements, agreements related to foreign exchange, foreign exchange and foreign exchange transactions, agreements on issuing guarantees, guarantees and other forms of guarantees, with the exception of payment services and other services provided by the Bank in accordance with the law.
    The deadline for submitting a written complaint is within 60 (sixty) days from the day when he found out that his right or legal interest was violated, that is, within three years from the day when his right or legal interest was violated.

Complaint submission channels

The Bank’s client can submit a complaint free of charge in writing through the following communication channels:

  • In person at the nearest branch of the Bank
  • By e-mail to the e-mail address: prigovori@apibank.rs
  • By mail to the address: API Bank a.d. Belgrade, Compliance, Bulevar vojvode Bojovića 6-8, 11000 Belgrade
  • On the bank’s website, apibank.rs, by filling out the contact form for submitting complaints
  • Via E-banking and M-banking applications.

The submitted complaint should contain data from which can be undoubtedly determined the relationship with the Bank (e.g. data related to the client, service, description of the disputed relationship, number of account or contract to which the complaint relates) as well as the reasons for submitting the complaint.

The Bank is not obliged to consider verbally submitted objections.In the event of a complaint being submitted at a Bank branch, the Bank would issue a Certificate of Receipt of the Complaint, which must include information on the place and time of receipt, as well as the name of the employee who received the complaint.In case of submitting a complaint via the internet presentation, via E-banking and M-banking applications or by e-mail, the Bank will immediately confirm receipt of the complaint in electronic form.
The Bank will not charge a fee or any other costs for handling the complaint.

Maintenance of the client’s complaint

The bank is obliged to consider the complaint and to respond in written within 15 days upon the date of the receipt of the complaint. If, for objective reasons, the Bank is unable to respond within the prescribed period, that period may be extended by a maximum of 15 days, of which the Bank will inform the complainant in writing, explaining the reasons why it is not possible to submit the response within the original period of 15 days, as well as information on the deadline for the response to be submitted.

The Bank’s response to the complaint shall be submitted in writing:

  • By post or in electronic form, by e-mail, if the complaint was submitted via the Bank’s website, by e-mail, as well as in the case that the client has expressly agreed to this method of delivering the answer.
    The answer can be delivered in the form of a copy of a printed electronic document, after which the client can request delivery in electronic form or delivery of a certified copy of that electronic document.

Complaint submission to the National Bank of Serbia

If the complainant is not satisfied with the Bank’s response or if the Bank does not provide a written response within the prescribed period, the complainant may, before initiating court proceedings, submit a complaint to the National Bank of Serbia – Sector for the Protection of Financial Services Users or a proposal for mediation.

The client can file a complaint:

  • By mail to the address: Sektor za zaštitu korisnika finansijskih usluga, Nemanjina 17, 11000 Beograd Poštanski fah 712
  • Through the Internet presentation of the National Bank of Serbia, which can be accessed by clicking on the text ” Complaint about the actions of a financial service provider / Proposal for mediation” or through the link below: https://www.nbs.rs/sr_RS/formulari/prituzba/

If the user submits a complaint to the National Bank of Serbia, and not to the Bank, the National Bank of Serbia will not consider the allegations of the complaint but will forward it to the Bank for further consideration and action.

The deadline for submitting a complaint by a natural person, entrepreneur, farmer and legal entity – as a user of payment services to the National Bank of Serbia is six months from the day of receipt of the response or from the expiration of the deadline for submitting that response.

Along with the complaint to the National Bank of Serbia, the client submits the complaint that was addressed to the Bank, the response that the client received from the Bank, data on the user’s identification as well as accompanying documentation based on which the statements from the complaint can be evaluated.

Mediation procedure

If the complainant (client) is not satisfied with the answer or the answer was not submitted within the prescribed period, you can resolve the disputed relationship between the user and the Bank in an out-of-court procedure – a mediation procedure. A proposal for mediation, which must include a deadline for its acceptance, is submitted to the National Bank of Serbia in written form, by mail or via the National Bank of Serbia’s website.

The mediation process is voluntary – requiring the consent of both parties, confidential and urgent. The mediation procedure before the National Bank of Serbia is carried out free of charge, with the fact that any costs that may arise in that procedure are borne by the parties themselves. The mediation procedure can be initiated upon receipt of a response from the Bank to the complaint, i.e. the expiration of the deadline for submitting it, during, or after the procedure for a complaint sent by the client to the National Bank of Serbia. The mediation process can be terminated by agreement of the parties, suspension or simple withdrawal. The client can submit a proposal to initiate mediation via a form on the website of the National Bank of Serbia NBS or to the address of the National Bank of Serbia, Sektor za zaštitu korisnika finansijskih usluga, Nemanjina 17,11000 Belgrade.

 

Sincerely,

API Bank a.d. Beograd