The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2026
Trade Republic's '1% makes the difference' wasn't cashback — Italy fined it €2.5M
The campaign read like card cashback, but the 1% flowed into an investment plan — and only for those who signed up. AGCM fined Trade Republic €2.5M.
Trade Republic Bank GmbH · 2026-06-09
What happened
Trade Republic, the German neobroker, promoted its payment card in Italy with the slogan 'L'1% fa la differenza' — the 1% makes the difference — alongside its 'Saveback Program'. Read as advertised, it sounded like classic card cashback: spend with the card, get part of the spend back.
That was not what it was. The AGCM found the communication wrongly led consumers to believe they were being offered a traditional cashback system with a partial refund of their spend credited to their account. In reality the 1% of card purchases feeds a subscription offer into an accumulation plan — a systematic investment plan — and flows there only for customers who specifically adhere to that proposal, under set conditions.
Essential information about the nature and the limits of the Saveback Program was omitted or presented in a deceptive form, the authority held. On 9 June 2026 the AGCM fined Trade Republic Bank GmbH €2.5 million for an unfair commercial practice under the Italian Consumer Code.
Why it happened
- 'Saveback' sounds like cashback — and the 1% slogan reinforced that reading, while the actual product was an investment-plan subscription.
- The benefit depended on a separate sign-up the advertising did not make clear: a card perk in the ads was a conditional financial product in the terms.
- Omission was the violation: essential information about the program's nature and limits was left out or worded deceptively, not merely understated.
The lesson
Do not let the slogan choose the product category: 'Saveback' read as cashback, but the 1% was an investment-plan sign-up. Say what the benefit is, and what it requires.
Aftermath
The sanction, case PS12985 of 9 June 2026, came in the same month as the AGCM's €7 million fine of Philip Morris Italia and a €2 million e-commerce sanction against Deghi — a busy June of Italian enforcement against misleading digital-era claims.
Sources
spotted an error? The club wants to know.
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