Good to knowThe title is catchy and definitely spot on, from a marketing point of view, to launch products of Poste Italiane (savings bonds and passbooks) on sale to Italian savers. These often end up in some strange network where they risk waste money, and lots of itCorrect title, “Good to know”, but misleading advertising campaign, and therefore to the detriment of savers themselves: as theAntitrust heavily criticizing the Italian company listed on the stock exchange. In short, the ads aired by Poste Italiane failed to highlight, with due transparency, a small but not insignificant detail. The savings bonds and passbooks issued by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Cdp) and sold by Poste Italiane (over 1 million customers in the single quarter of the campaign) only pay interest after an initial period, while the taxes, stamp duty, and duties paid by the saver can even lead to a reduction in the amount invested. A lossPoste Italiane had a duty to inform its potential customers, but it failed to do so, and after a fruitless back-and-forth with the Antitrust Authority, it negotiated a sort of penalty. It will have to pay the stamp duty and the withholding tax on the interest due on savings bonds (a term that risks becoming vague with these practices...) and on the savings accounts opened by its customers.
MISLEADING ADVERTISING BY POSTE ITALIANE
The singular aspect of the story, which falls fully within the themes Don't waste dedicated to the defense of savers and to the financial culture of the saver to avoid deceptions, is the fact that Poste Italiane presents itself as a repeat offender company in this type of practice. In 2015, the Antitrust Authority had already reprimanded and fined the company €540 for misleading advertising of the Libretto Smart product. And, between July 6 and October 8, 2018, during the "Good to Know" campaign, just three years after the massive fine, Poste Italiane he did an encore. Again to the detriment of savers.
POSTE ITALIANE ADVERTISEMENT GOOD TO KNOW
For goodness sake, all companies, when they use the marketing lever too aggressively and carelessly, can stumble upon a mistakePerhaps not entirely intentional, although here, considering the two episodes, the Antitrust's interventions on Poste Italiane leave more than a doubt as to whether they were in good or bad faith. But what is most disconcerting concerns the company's identity, activity, and shareholder structure. Poste Italiane is a company that is part of the national system, and certainly cannot be described as poorly managed, considering the excellent results what it is doing on the stock market and the dividend it distributes to shareholders (first and foremost the State, the reference shareholder through the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti). Yet a de facto public company, with several important private shareholders, should feel two goals stronger than everThe first: the transparency compared to the offering of its products, which in this case impact one of the most important assets of Italy and Italians: our savings. Second objective: the quality of servicesWe all, in one way or another, frequent post offices, and we know that many services have improved (in fact, prices have also gone up, and not by a little). But the feeling we have, as the Non sprecare community, is that this is not always matched by a general quality of services and their uniform distribution throughout Italy. We've discussed this in other articles. This is also what we've said regarding the Italian railways, another de facto public company and a key player in the country's system: high-speed rail is good, but it's bad, terrible if regional and local trains become like ox carts. And there can't be a second-class Italy compared to a first-class Italy, neither in terms of post office operations nor train travel. Much less in terms of savings.
TO KNOW MORE: Ever-longer queues at the counters: a waste of time and money
ADVERTISING FOR ITALIAN POSTAL VOUCHERS AND BOOKLETS
Finally, a final consideration concerns politics and its relationship with companies where the state, and therefore political parties, play a decisive role. Poste Italiane's top management should certainly be left alone and allowed to work, and then evaluated based on results (not just financial results, but also citizen satisfaction with services). without undue interferenceBut it's also unthinkable that politics, when it comes to citizens' interests, intervenes only to appoint, in companies like Poste Italiane or Ferrovie dello Stato, a few members of the board of directors, coincidentally appointed by the politician of the moment, and fails to make its voice heard on the rights of savers and consumers. And on their protection. Another perverse way of exercising the function and mission of politics, with obvious waste and loss of credibility.
HOW TO TEACH CHILDREN THE IMPORTANCE OF MONEY
- Don't waste money, a truck is touring Italy to teach it to 10 students (photo)
- Pocket money for children: how to use it as an educational tool to teach them to save and avoid waste.
- How to teach children the value of money, even through stories and fables
- In Switzerland, at 12, you get a "youth salary" to get used to independence. In Italy, at 30, you don't want to leave home.
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