By Mauro Orru

Intesa Sanpaolo said it had complied with Italian regulations when transferring customer accounts to its digital banking unit after the country's competition watchdog announced an investigation into the matter.

The Italian Competition Authority, or AGCM, said Thursday morning that the bank had been ambiguous in communicating to some of its customers that their accounts would be transferred to Isybank.

AGCM said that account holders had complained about Intesa's handling of the process, saying the bank alerted affected customers via its internet banking portal during the summer holidays. Many account holders became aware of the changes only after the deadline set by Intesa for them to refuse had expired, the authority said.

Intesa Sanpaolo said it is cooperating with authorities.

"At the same time, Intesa Sanpaolo maintains that it has operated in compliance with applicable regulations, including in the communications with customers," it said.

The operation involved 300,000 customers, the vast majority of whom have not complained, the bank added.

Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 02, 2023 14:05 ET (18:05 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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