Alpha Bank, out of a sense of responsibility toward its customers and the general public, wishes to provide information regarding the decision of the Athens Multi-Member Court of First Instance on the class-action lawsuit filed by E.K.POI.ZO. regarding the myAlpha Benefit Base service package.
As the bank states in its announcement, the Court rejected E.K.POI.ZO.’s main claims regarding the legality of the Bank’s general terms and conditions, ruling that they are fully in line with the applicable legal framework (Law 4537/2018 on payment services).
Consequently, the decision does not affect the validity of the contractual relationships of customers who have chosen to use myAlpha Benefit Base, nor does it call into question the Bank’s ability to provide this specific service package to its customers.
At the same time, the decision includes assessments regarding the adequacy of specific elements of the written information provided to customers. This will be addressed, where necessary, through revised, supplementary information provided to customers, in full compliance with the decision’s guidelines.
In this context, and pending the completion of the new round of notifications, Alpha Bank has already ceased charging the monthly fee for myAlpha Benefit Base to those customers who had received the written notice that was the subject of the lawsuit.
Alpha Bank is committed to offering its customers transaction programs with real value, accompanied by clear and comprehensive information that allows each customer to enjoy a modern service package and make fully informed decisions.
What EKPOIZO Says
For its part, the consumer organization EKPOIZO states the following in its announcement:
“The Athens Multi-Member Court of First Instance, in its decision No. 183/2026, prohibits ALPHA BANK from imposing a monthly fee of 0.80 euros on its customers who hold ‘Simple Savings’ or “Simple Checking” accounts. The decision was issued following a class-action lawsuit filed by EKPOIZO against ALPHA BANK, and the Multi-Member Court of First Instance has declared it provisionally enforceable. Consequently, ALPHA BANK is required to immediately stop charging thousands of deposit accounts on which it has imposed a monthly fee of 0.80 euros.
Specifically, ALPHA BANK, in letters sent last year to consumers holding deposit accounts—citing their status as payment accounts—announced that it would add the so-called “my Alpha Benefit Base” transaction package to these accounts, meaning that consumers would be able to perform a series of transactions free of charge. For this reason, their accounts would be charged 0.80 euros per month, regardless of whether they made use of the alleged benefits. At the same time, it gave consumers a two-month deadline to object to its letter so that neither the fee nor the “benefits” would apply.
The Multi-Member Court of First Instance ruled that the information the bank provided to consumers in its letter was misleading. This was because the information the bank provided regarding these transactions lacked transparency, thereby creating the misleading impression among consumers that they could now conduct free transactions that, however, were already available—among other reasons because the law did not permit them—at no charge. Thus, the bank presented as benefits of the premium account standing orders or transfers for paying bills to various organizations, money transfers of up to 500 EUR per day via IRIS Payments, prepaid card top-ups regardless of amount, and so on.
Consequently, the Court ruled that the Bank violated its obligations of transparency and clear disclosure when introducing this fee. Accordingly, the term providing for this fee is unfair and void. The Court therefore orders the bank to cease charging consumers the aforementioned monthly fee.
As in the case of the National Bank, the Court has declared the decision provisionally enforceable. The Court has also imposed a fine of 40,000 euros on the bank. It follows that, since the imposition of this charge was deemed unlawful, ALPHA BANK is obligated to refund the charges imposed on consumers as a result of the aforementioned unlawful practice.
It is noteworthy that the aforementioned Alpha Bank package provided only the option of one incoming and one outgoing money transfer (for which, if such a charge were permitted, it would not exceed 0.50 euros), whereas payment service packages available on the market for the same monthly fee offer the ability to make 50 such transactions. It is clear, therefore, that the opaque and misleading information, in conjunction with the procedure followed—namely, the package being imposed due to the consumer’s inaction in response to the letter sent to them— are intended to catch consumers off guard, exploit their lack of familiarity, and impose charges for services that consumers ultimately have no interest in or may not need.
EKPOIZO points out that, over the past year, banks have systematically treated consumers’ deposit accounts as payment accounts and have sought—using deceptive and, indeed, non-transparent methods—to impose “service packages,” and, as evidenced in the present case, under false pretenses—for which consumers have expressed no interest—with the ultimate aim of undermining consumers’ deposit accounts.
It should also be noted that this is the second court ruling issued on the same matter, as it was preceded two months ago by Decision No. 128/2026 of the Athens Multi-Member Court of First Instance, which prohibited the same practice at the National Bank of Greece.”
Of course, EKPOIZO will continue with dedication and consistency its legal battle to ban, in general, the practice of banks imposing—by taking advantage of consumers’ inaction—such significant changes to their contracts, as well as to ban many other abusive practices and charges.
It also calls on the competent authorities, and in particular the Independent Authority for Market Supervision and Consumer Protection, to finally exercise their supervisory and enforcement powers and not to act as indifferent observers.