Banking opens strings to the bag

Banks will have to return 22 million improperly charged. This is an increase of 15 million compared to the previous year (214.29%): 18.5 million refer to interest and the remaining 3.5 million refer to commissions.
The sunrise knows that this return will be made, regardless of whether or not the customer has made the complaint. « Just, for example, a customer has made Banco de Portugal a complaint of a Spread Discount because it has entered the arrears that the regulatory body will make this assessment and, even if customers in this situation have claimed or not in this case will also recover the money, » says source linked to the process.

To our newspaper, the coordinator of Deco’s Financial Protection Office criticizes the amount that banks are required to return, considering that they were improperly charged, namely in commissions and interest, waving an ‘exponential increase’.

Despite applauding the performance of the body led by Mario Centeno, Natália Nunes admits that this performance puts some ellipsis. “On the one hand, it is a high volume that was charged to customers and, on the other hand, the amount that came out of consumers’ pockets. In this case, Banco de Portugal should also have had a faster reaction, more proactive not to let these values ​​so high because they are certainly a great dent in what is the budgets of families.

And it gives as an example the 15.5 million that were amounts paid with the foundation of default interest. «We are talking about families who are being confronted with payment delays and who have had to further support this position. It’s a worrying situation, ”he adds.

However, the official admits that there are committees that have already been eliminated in the meantime, but acknowledges that there is still a lot of work to do. « Many have been eliminated and this is a concern that we have had over the years, because we have seen that many commissions have been charged to customers without having any counterparts or that were disproportionate against the counterpart that is provided to the consumer », and points out other situations that have not yet been corrected, such as the Account Maintenance Commission, another claim that Deco continues to have on the table.

Opinions diverge
At the sunrise, Paulo Marcos, president of the National Bank Staff Union, points out that the amount returning to the banks is related to complaints made by customers. However, it recalls that the total of committees charged by the financial sector will be around three billion, which means that the 22 million that will have to be returned around 0.1%. « I don’t find it excessive, » he says.

The opposite position has António Fonseca, president of the Mais Union, who considers that « banks exaggerate in the commissions they charge to customers » and said that « they used to have some argument because the fees were practically null, but the truth is that the fees have rose and the commissions continue to be charged in the same way, » noting that the bank did not do any setback. « There could have been some adjustment and that is why banks profits are what they are today. »

The official also points out some examples: «It is exorbitant to pay small condominium bills that are mandatory today, commissions of 10.40 euros every month. This for those who have a small condominium is really violent. Multiply 10.40 euros for 12 months exceeds 100 euros. It is maladjusted ».

X-ray
According to the annual behavioral supervision report, 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 offenses of offense to bank institutions.

In the credit intermediaries sector, 419 offense processes were established, 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 in the non -compliance regime and lives. 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.

In personal, automobile and digital credit, faults were found such as the incorrect calculation of TAEG, usure 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%).

What to expect
The profits of the five largest banks operating in Portugal reached 4,964 million euros by 2024, or 13.6 million euros each day. This is the best year ever in the sector. However, increased profits has been accompanied by a reduction in workers and agencies.
Last year, the largest banks cut 263 jobs, totaling the 44,000. The same scenario is repeated in the number of counters: minus 18 counters, as long as a total of 1,831 in the country.

And, according to António Fonseca, this trend is to keep up. « The seats at the meetings are saying that we will not watch large counters closures, but if we are attentive we will notice that, in a relatively silent and discreet way, all banks continue to close a counter here, a counter there, which leads me to believe this will continue to increase. »

Admittedly, it recognizes that this reduction will not be done as drastically as it has happened in the last decade. « The number of counters reduced almost to the existing one, » but also admits that the risks are different. « The artificial intelligence that is now spoken will accentuate, I don’t know what speed, but surely it will be reflected in the financial system. » On the other hand, it recalls that banks are increasingly giving clients to the counters. «I would say that the future of a bank branch will have few people and many machines. For 30 years when I joined the bank and they are already 34 years old there were counters, as there was on Augusta Street, with 80 people is now unthinkable. It is also logical that in 34 years it evolves a lot, but if you want to make a little bit of future I believe that more and more will be accentuated this situation, ”he concludes to our newspaper.