Banco de Portugal obliges banks to return millionaire amounts to clients for improper charges. There was an increase of 15 million compared to the previous year.
Banco de Portugal (BDP) forced the bank to return 22 million euros to bank customers for improper interest and commissions – one increase of 15 million compared to the previous year (214.29%)and of which 18.5 million are related to interest and the remaining commissions, says this Wednesday.
According to the annual behavioral supervision report, “whenever, in the exercise of conduct inspection competences, Banco de Portugal detects infractions to the applicable legal and regulatory framework with direct impact on the financial sphere of customers, which translate into the collection of clients of amounts that could not legally be charged, the return of these amounts through the issuance of specific determinations”.
In 2024, this action was translated into the issuance of 358 warnings, 394 recommendations and 1,830 specific determinations, in addition to the proposal to establish 58 Infringement Processes to banking institutions.
In the sector of Credit Intermediates419 offenses were filed, resulting from 24 warnings and 38 specific determinations. Among the approximately 5,893 intermediaries recorded at the end of 2024, the BDP made inspections to 298 establishments, finding irregularities in 280 of them. The advertising inspection also revealed that 70% of the intermediaries announcements had defaults, compared to only 2% in financial institutions.
The report also highlights irregularities no FAILURE AND MISSION. Among the identified failures are the non-application of the regime to all contracts covered, lack of monitoring of contracts at risk, aggravation of the interest rate in the renegotiation of contracts, and improper capitalization of charges.
No Personal, automobile and digital creditFailures such as the incorrect calculation of TAEG, user -rate contracts, omission of relevant information and lack of justification in credit refusal. Advertising inspection analyzed more than 17,000 supports, with an increase of 5% compared to 2023. The most common infractions involved the omission or concealment of conditions of access to products, being more frequent in digital media (75%).
The BDP also recalls that it tries to promote financial literacy through the program #ficaadicawith videos, podcasts and infographics:
Banco de Portugal also highlights the 1,206 training actions carried out across the country, which involved more than 43,000 participants, and the launch of the “My Future Financial” contest, directed to young college students, in partnership with CFA Portugal.
