Opening and closing a bank account: Banco de Portugal proposes simpler rules

Changing banks, changing IBAN – but it will probably stop being like that, admitted Álvaro Santos Pereira. Significant simplifications are coming.

There are several rules in the banking sector that cause some constraints. But significant changes should come to simplify these paragraphs.

O Bank of Portugal will “soon propose significant regulatory simplifications at the level of opening and closing bank accounts”.

The announcement was made this Thursday by Álvaro Santos Pereira, governor of the Bank of Portugal, while he was at an annual meeting with banking employees.

One of the rules that makes it difficult at times is the change of IBANthe international number that identifies each account, a unique (and long) code.

Whenever a customer changes banks, whenever they change their account to a new bank, they also have to change that IBAN.

The Competition Authority (also) looks at this as an obstacle to changing banks; therefore, it recommended to Banco de Portugal that the IBAN be portable.

Santos Pereira notices and agrees: “We will consider IBAN portability and transfer and/or accounts for customers who want to change banks”, says .

This “regulatory simplification” will also “respond to the recurring appeals of banking customers, and help promote competition in the sector”.

The Competition Authority also suggested that Banco de Portugal create an independent entity to manage the account change service – which already exists but is having little use.