A serious dispute with a European bank — hidden fees, an unjustified freeze on your funds — can feel like it leaves you with only one option: an expensive lawsuit in the bank's home country. That's not how the system is designed to work. The EU has built a free, cross-border financial dispute resolution network specifically so consumers don't have to go to court as a first resort.
The internal complaint comes first — and it has a legal deadline
Before any external escalation, you must formally complain to your bank's own customer service or complaints department. If your complaint relates to a payment service — transfers, cards, or unauthorised charges — the Payment Services Directive (PSD2) imposes a strict statutory deadline: the bank must issue a final written response within 15 business days. In genuinely exceptional circumstances, this can extend to 35 business days, but the bank must tell you this and explain why. Silence past the 15-day mark is itself a regulatory breach, and it strengthens your position when you escalate to the national supervisor (such as the Banco de España or Germany's BaFin).
Getting your complaint taken seriously from the start
Title your written complaint explicitly — something like "Formal Complaint under the Payment Services Directive" — so it's routed correctly and the statutory clock is clearly triggered from the date of receipt.
FIN-NET: the cross-border bridge
If the bank's internal response is unsatisfactory, or the deadline passes without one, FIN-NET is your next step. This is a network connecting national financial ombudsmen across the EU (plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein), designed specifically for disputes that cross borders — for example, a Spanish resident with a German bank. You don't need to navigate the German system yourself: your national FIN-NET contact point coordinates directly with its counterpart in the bank's home country, and the process is free.
What FIN-NET can actually achieve
Ombudsman decisions reached through FIN-NET members are often not the end of your options — most schemes offer a resolution that's faster and cheaper than litigation, and a bank that repeatedly ignores or loses these cases faces real reputational and regulatory consequences with its national supervisor, even where the individual decision itself isn't always strictly binding in every member state's scheme.
Building your case file
Keep your original written complaint, the bank's response (or proof of the missed deadline), account statements showing the disputed charge or issue, and a clear timeline of events. This is the packet FIN-NET's bridging body will need to open your case.
Sources
- Directive 2015/2366 (PSD2) — Article 101, complaint response deadlines
- FIN-NET — European Commission cross-border financial dispute resolution network