In order to protect financial consumers, prevent mistakes or non-compliances, and promote best practices, the BCRA continues to monitor regulated institutions based on complaints and claims received on a daily basis. The aim is to encourage financial institutions, credit card issuers and non-financial credit providers to take preventive actions, minimize risks and strengthen the protection of financial consumers’ basic rights. As from March 2023 payment service providers that offer payment accounts and payment service providers fulfilling initiation functions and providing e-wallet services are also included within this group.
Among other measures, since 2020 the Board of Directors of the BCRA has launched a series of actions with an impact on consumers, including setting up limits on credit card fees; reinforcing banks’ accountability for loans granted through electronic means; improving security of electronic payments; and prompting financial institutions to have text-to-speech players in online banking and mobile banking services.
Also, as part of its consumer protection policy, the BCRA regularly posts tips and recommendations to raise awareness about consumer’s rights and warn them about how to prevent potential scams or abuses.
The model for financial consumer protection focuses on prevention based on the systemic analysis of identified problems. It seeks to determine the grounds for claims and take actions to reach a prompt resolution and prevent their recurrence.
It is worth noting that in addition to continuously monitoring the actions of regulated institutions, it assists consumers by making information available through its website, which includes forms where consumers can enter their enquiries, complaints or claims not settled by institutions. The BCRA also has a twitter account @BCRAUsuarios where consumers can submit their enquiries about the regulations or any other related problem they may have.
In case of disagreement with the products offered or services rendered by a financial institution, it is important to remember that the claim must be first submitted to the institution offering the product or rendering the service. According to current regulations, after filing the claim, the institution has 3 business days to provide the individual with the number assigned to their claim and a maximum of 10 business days to provide a response.
It is also important to remember that as established by the BCRA, each institution must appoint a financial consumer services accountable officer, who will be responsible for ensuring adequate customer service compliance. Accountable officers act as a second review instance within the same institution, so it is possible to resort to them when difficulties are identified in any given case.
After the 10-day deadline, if the response is unfavorable or does not meet the consumers’ expectations, they can file an “Unsettled Claim” form available on the BCRA’s website.
The response, at this stage of the claim, will come either from the institution involved or from the Consumer Protection Office, as appropriate. The institution involved reviews once again the claim and must report to the BCRA the resolution adopted stating that the consumer has been notified and including traceability information from the BCRA.
In short, to solve any problem involving an institution you have to:
• Always make the claim in the institution and ask for the number assigned to the claim filed.
• Remember that there is a financial consumer services accountable officer in each institution who you can refer to—their contact details are on the website of each institution and in this link.
• If the response to a claim was unfavorable or did not meet the consumers’ expectations, an unsettled claim can be reported to the BCRA. This form must be submitted after complying with the requirements set forth therein. At this instance, a second review monitored by the BCRA starts, where the institution reconsiders the claim and provides a new response.
• The procedure can also be filed at the exclusive counter of the National Consumer Protection Office.
For the past years, the BCRA has been carrying out this policy in the pursuit of three basic goals (the 3 “Ps”): to protect financial consumers from the actions of institutions; to prevent repeated mistakes or non-compliances made by institutions; and to promote best practices for the benefit of consumers.
