IMPROVING CONSUMER PROTECTION ON BANK MARKET

Consumer protection within a broader area of social responsibility and ethics in banking has recently been attracting increased interest of researchers and professionals. The global financial crisis, which started in 2007, has put consumer protection under great scrutiny by initiating changes in behavioural patterns both of banks and consumers. Besides being an ethical question, consumer protection is also an important social and political question, usually appearing together with excessive problems, significant for financial stability as well. The aim of this paper is to investigate problems in bank consumer protection in Croatia both from regulatory and from practical aspect, and planned solutions for detected problems, as well as to analyse examples found in developed countries. Qualitative methodology is applied in the research, based on in-depth interviews with subject matter experts. By studying practical solutions for consumer protection on a global level, particularly focusing on the USA and Western European countries, the paper proposes the best practice of consumer protection applicable in Croatia