An EU-wide investigation of websites offering consumer credit has revealed that of 562 websites checked, only 30 per cent passed a test for compliance with the relevant EU consumer rules and 70 per cent of these sites (393) were flagged for further investigation.

Five of the websites investigated were Maltese, all of which were found to contain irregularities.

One of the main problems found was missing information in consumer credit advertising. Advertising on 258 (46 per cent) did not include all the standard information required by the Consumer Credit Directive such as the annual percentage rate of charge (APR), which is essential to compare offers, information on whether charges on obligatory ancillary services were included in the total cost and the duration of the credit agreement.

Another fault was the omission of key information. Two hundred and forty four (43 per cent) websites did not give clear information about all the different elements of the total cost, such as the type of interest rate, (fixed, variable or both), the duration of the credit (if applicable), and some of the costs related to the credit.

Misleading presentation of the costs where the cost of the credit is displayed in a way which is false or could deceive consumers is yet another flaw which emerged from the investigation. This includes the way the price is calculated or if the consumer is not informed that beyond the cost of the consumer credit itself there is an added obligatory insurance. Twenty per cent of the websites displayed this kind of problem.

National enforcement authorities will now contact financial institutions and credit intermediaries about suspected irregularities and ask them to clarify or take corrective action. Failure to do so, depending on the national legislation, can result in legal action leading to fines or even closure of the websites.

Six countries (Italy, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden) conducted a deeper investigation of 57 sites to check compliance with consumer rules including payment arrangement, complaint handling and terms and conditions.

In 2010, financial institutions in the eurozone had more than €600 billion outstanding consumer credit.