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-   -   UniCredit Mobile banking - be warned (https://britishexpats.com/forum/italy-77/unicredit-mobile-banking-warned-934047/)

SanNico Jul 29th 2020 2:37 pm

UniCredit Mobile banking - be warned
 
I love the simplicity of online banking and the UniCredit app is one of the best. However, be warned that if you change your phone number you must visit the branch to update the details. Last week my phone was stolen in Spain. No big deal as I just de-activated online and called the insurance company. I had another SIM and phone available so called them to register a new number. You can't do it. The call centre were telling me the branch director should send me a QR code via email, he was refusing. I explained that I will be out of Italy for about 6 months, he explained there is absolutely nothing they can do to help me. You must sign their digital signature box. Notarised documents, a letter from the consulate, a note from your Mum, all of no use to them. I begged them and asked what would have happened if I was somewhere dangerous without access to my account, they didn't care.

1 week later and a lot of calls, they have allowed me to visit my nearest branch instead of the Ostuni branch. Visiting my nearest branch means flying to Malpensa to sign for the change of number. Of course, to book the flights you need another account as UniCredit insist on SMS authorisation for online purchases.

As an additional warning, if you take out phone insurance with MediaWorld, it's invalid outside of Italy. Of course it's in the small print, but none of us really read it so I shouldn't complain.

HADENOUGHPIZZA Jul 30th 2020 9:25 am

Re: UniCredit Mobile banking - be warned
 
This is inline with the standard security levesl applied to online banking . I also have a ID number + PIN + security questions in case of emergency but if you only have access via phone and the number has been reported stolen then not being able to access your account by phone is probably a good sign overall . Ask what back- up options you can get from them in case it happens again .

Plan B Aug 1st 2020 8:21 pm

Re: UniCredit Mobile banking - be warned
 
Yet another example of how deplorably unhelpful many so much of Italy can be: sometimes I think there must be some customer-centric gene missing in the Italian psyche. Yes, I know there are similar pillocks everywhere but the Italians have managed to trump the Brits in this.

Seldomseenkid Aug 2nd 2020 7:46 am

Re: UniCredit Mobile banking - be warned
 
Please don't get me started on the Italian Post Office, do they train their staff to be unhelpful or is it just part of the selection process?

heritagestanley Aug 2nd 2020 11:08 am

Re: UniCredit Mobile banking - be warned
 
In my - admittedly limited -experience customer-facing staff in Italian organisations generally try to help and give advice: I think the problem is that there are lots of rules and procedures laid down which give them limited or no flexibility. But before concluding that UK customer service is superior, one needs to watch out for the insidious development of algorithmic decision-making. Apply for something, and increasingly the answer will depend on what the algorithm determines. And when "computer says no" there's not much to be done about it

philat98 Aug 2nd 2020 3:00 pm

Re: UniCredit Mobile banking - be warned
 

Originally Posted by Seldomseenkid (Post 12891070)
Please don't get me started on the Italian Post Office, do they train their staff to be unhelpful or is it just part of the selection process?

I took 3 postcards to the post office and asked them to be stamped for UK. Instead of putting stamps the woman printed off labels that were so big they covered the front and back of the cards. I told her that the cards were ruined and I wasnt paying so she might put them in the bin. She called the manager and he insisted on returning the cards but without any trace of the labels. It took 5 minutes to remove the labels and in the end the cards looked like they had been eaten by a dog.

SanNico Aug 3rd 2020 6:53 am

Re: UniCredit Mobile banking - be warned
 
The whole experience was laughably wrapped in pointless red tap. When I visited the Malpensa branch they refused to make the changes for the following reasons:
My ID card had expired. I was already armed with the nota verbale from Ministero degli affri esteri explaining that due to CoVid there is an extension until 30 August but they said their system didn't recognise it.
My UK passport is not a recognised form of identification.
My Spanish ID is also not a valid form of identification.
My Italian driving licence is not a valid form of identification, even though many other places recognise it.
They could not verify who I was.
The phone number I was changing to was in their system belonging to another account. I told them to look it up as it belonged to my wife and was linked to an account she closed over 1 year ago. This gave them another excuse/reason. They said the phone account must be registered in my name. This is not true which I successfully proved to the manager when I asked him whose name his company phone was under.

The turning point was when I asked them to close my account and hand over the cash as the account was useless to me without online banking. All of a sudden the expired document was acceptable. The manager said that I must indeed be the person that I claimed to be as I was sitting there in front of him receiving the emails from UniCredit, messages pinging to a phone number in my possession, I was the only person he had ever seen who knew his account number, access codes and backup codes by heart and I was the only person with my name in possession of flight stubs, police reports and multiple valid forms of identification that tied up with the elaborate story provided to him.

All in all, an expensive and exhausting success which will have to be repeated very soon to close the account. I really don't think it's an Italian hobby, in the past I have had very smooth experiences with the banks and authorities. I think this was an occasion where one person couldn't be bothered or didn't know the process and the rest decided it was better to back him up rather than admit a mistake.

HADENOUGHPIZZA Aug 3rd 2020 8:21 am

Re: UniCredit Mobile banking - be warned
 

Originally Posted by philat98 (Post 12891176)
I took 3 postcards to the post office and asked them to be stamped for UK. Instead of putting stamps the woman printed off labels that were so big they covered the front and back of the cards. I told her that the cards were ruined and I wasnt paying so she might put them in the bin. She called the manager and he insisted on returning the cards but without any trace of the labels. It took 5 minutes to remove the labels and in the end the cards looked like they had been eaten by a dog.

My loathing of the Italian Post Office means that I hardly ever set foot in one and was only increased when I found out that they had not updated my address as requested a year ago and that I would have to go in person to repeat the request and update my ID . In the initial post lockdown period I got myself there and found there was a massive queue . My friend said he'd queue while I waited in the shade nearer the doors on my crutches ( recent operation ) . The doors opened and a post office worker called in the man at the head of the queue , looked at me in horror and ordered me in imediately . There was a desk with priority for pregant / disabled / elderly customers and it was manned and open ! The other two desks managed to serve one person between them in 15 minutes and my friend told me afterwards that there had been a lot of resentment in the queue from those who felt that they should have qualified as elderly ( ie over 50 .. ) and one who was sure that as my disabilty wasn't permanent I should not have been allowed in at all and one who suggested I'd just borrowed the crutches !

philat98 Aug 3rd 2020 7:40 pm

Re: UniCredit Mobile banking - be warned
 
Those crutches proved pretty useful! The queues for the post office in my town are truly terrible at the moment. I suspect they are taking the opportunity to use less staff.


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