Complaints by German consumers against banks and other financial companies rose by a fifth last year, official data showed, as regulators stepped up oversight to bolster confidence in the sector.

BaFin, Germany’s financial watchdog, has increased its focus on consumer protection following the collapse of Wirecard, the payments company that became the subject of an accounting scandal.

The agency received 15,000 complaints from consumers in Europe’s biggest economy about their banks and other financial service providers last year, up from 12,500 in 2021, the fourth consecutive year.

According to officials, bankers and consumer advocates, complaints include long processing times for closing accounts, changing terms and reducing branch networks.

The figures, first reported by Reuters, will be published in an annual report in May.

“Financial institutions can’t do well because they don’t treat their customers well,” Chan-Jae Yu, a BaFin official, said in an interview.

Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft, Germany’s main financial lobby, said German banks were “extremely stable and strong” and confidence remained “high” and “unscathed” by the recent turmoil caused by bank failures in the United States and Switzerland.

But a YouGov survey last year showed that confidence in Germany’s financial sector, which is critical to fostering broader financial stability and attracting capital to support economic growth, was below the global average, lagging behind Canada, Australia and major Asian markets.

Nils Nauhauser, a consumer advocate in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, has spent two decades fighting for consumer rights.

“The fact that consumers are coming to us more and more often and asking for advice is proof enough that they don’t have full confidence in financial institutions,” he said.

A study by EY this year found that 25% of respondents in Germany trust financial companies, 31% do not and 44% are neutral.

“As in any industry that provides business services, there are times when there are differences of opinion between the customer and the bank,” Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft said, citing its own figures which showed a decline in consumer complaints last year, as opposed to from BaFin. data

The protection and rights of customers of financial institutions have come under increased scrutiny from German regulators and courts.

BaFin, which received new leadership following multiple allegations of its failure to detect Wirecard fraud, last year cracked down on the length of time it takes brokers to process account transfer requests.

The multi-week process of transferring an account to a new broker often left the client waiting for any changes in the markets.

A key decision by Germany’s top court in 2021 also made it harder for banks to change their terms, ending a decades-long practice that allowed banks to raise fees without the express consent of account holders.

Bankers say the decision added costs and bureaucracy.

In Stuttgart, better known for its car industry than finance, Nauhauser won concessions this year from units of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank.

His next target is the insurance company Allianz, which he is suing over changes to life insurance payouts that he says are opaque.

A hearing is scheduled for this month in a court in Stuttgart.

Allianz said it “respects all its contractual obligations and guarantees”.

Meanwhile, Nauhauser vowed to keep up the pressure on financial companies, large and small.

“We want the services to take hold in the market and meet the needs of consumers, not feed the financial industry,” he said.