Resolution CMN No. 2878 — Procedures for Financial Institutions in Contracting Operations and Providing Services

RESOLUTION NO. 2878

Dispenses with procedures to be observed by financial institutions and other institutions authorized to operate by the Central Bank of Brazil in the contracting of operations and the provision of services to clients and the general public.

THE CENTRAL BANK OF BRAZIL, in accordance with Article 9 of Law No. 4,595, of December 31, 1964, makes public that the MONETARY POLICY COUNCIL, in a session held on July 26, 2001, based on Article 4, item VIII, of the aforementioned law, considering the provisions of Law No. 4,728, of July 14, 1965, and Law No. 6,099, of September 12, 1974,

RESOLVES:

Art. 1. It is established that financial institutions and other institutions authorized to operate by the Central Bank of Brazil, in the contracting of operations and the provision of services to clients and the general public, without prejudice to the observance of other current legal and regulatory provisions applicable to the National Financial System, must adopt measures aimed at ensuring:

I - transparency in contractual relations, preserving clients and the public user from inequitable practices, through prior and integral knowledge of contractual clauses, highlighting, among other things, the provisions that impose responsibilities and penalties;

II - timely response to inquiries, complaints, and information requests made by clients and the public user, in order to resolve, with brevity and efficiency, doubts regarding the services provided and/or offered, as well as contracted operations, or resulting from advertising transmitted through any institutional dissemination media, involving, in particular:

a) contractual clauses and conditions;

b) operational characteristics;

c) discrepancies in the execution of services;

III - clarity and format that allow easy reading of contracts entered into with clients, containing identification of deadlines, negotiated values, interest rates, late payment fees, and administrative fees, maintenance commissions, late payment charges, penalties for non-payment, and other conditions;

IV - receipt by clients of a copy, printed or electronic, of the contracts as soon as they are formalized, as well as receipts, payment proofs, and other documents pertinent to the operations carried out;

V - effective prevention and repair of patrimonial and moral damages caused to their clients and users.

Art. 2. The institutions referred to in Art. 1 must make available to clients, in their premises, information that ensures total knowledge regarding situations that may imply refusal to receive documents (checks, collection slips, compensation slips, and others) or the making of payments, in accordance with current legislation.

Sole Paragraph. The institutions referred to in the caput must post, in their premises, in a visible location and format, the telephone number of the Central Bank of Brazil's Public Service Center, accompanied by the observation that it is intended for handling reports and complaints, as well as the telephone number relative to the service of the same nature, if offered by them.

Art. 3. The institutions referred to in Art. 1 must highlight for clients the contractual conditions and those resulting from regulatory provisions, among which:

I - responsibilities for issuing checks without sufficient funds;

II - the situations in which the account holder will be registered in the Registry of Check Issuers without Funds (CCF);

III - the penalties to which the account holder is subject;

IV - the fees charged by the institution, especially those related to:

a) return of checks without sufficient funds or for other reasons;

b) maintenance of deposit accounts;

V - rates charged by the executor of a check and other paper compensation service;

VI - measures regarding the closing of deposit accounts, including the definition of deadlines for their adoption;

VII - remuneration, rates, fees, commissions, fines, and any other charges resulting from credit opening contracts, overdraft checks, and the provision of services in general.

Sole Paragraph. Overdraft check contracts, in addition to the provisions regarding rights and obligations agreed upon, must provide for the conditions for renewal, including the credit limit, and for termination, with indication of deadlines, applicable fees, and measures to be adopted by the contracting parties.

Art. 4. The institutions referred to in Art. 1 are obliged to comply with all information or advertising they disseminate, by any form or means of communication, regarding contracts, operations, and services offered or provided, which must also be included in the contract to be entered into.

Sole Paragraph. The advertising referred to in the caput must be disseminated in such a way that the public can identify it in a simple and immediate manner.

Art. 5. It is prohibited for the institutions referred to in Art. 1 to use misleading or abusive advertising.

Sole Paragraph. For the purposes of the provisions in the caput:

I - any form of information or communication capable of inducing error in the client or user regarding the nature, characteristics, risks, rates, commissions, fees, or any other form of remuneration, deadlines, taxation, and any other data regarding contracts, operations, or services offered or provided is misleading.

II - advertising that contains discrimination of any nature, that prejudices competition, or that characterizes imposition or coercion is abusive, among others.

Art. 6. The institutions referred to in Art. 1, whenever necessary, including at the request of clients or users, must prove the veracity and accuracy of the information disseminated or advertising sponsored by them.

Art. 7. The institutions referred to in Art. 1, in contracting operations with their clients, must ensure the right to early settlement of the debt, total or partial, through proportional reduction of interest.

Art. 8. The institutions referred to in Art. 1 must use terminology that allows, in a clear and unequivocal manner, the identification and understanding of the operations carried out, highlighting value, date, location, and nature, especially in the following cases:

I - service fee tables;

II - contracts regarding their operations with clients;

III - reports and statements of movement of deposit accounts of any nature, including those provided through electronic equipment.

Art. 9. The institutions referred to in Art. 1 must establish in their premises alternative technical, physical, or special measures that guarantee:

I - priority service for persons with physical disabilities or reduced mobility, temporary or permanent, elderly persons aged sixty-five or older, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and persons accompanied by infants, through:

a) guarantee of privileged places in lines;

b) distribution of tickets with numbering adequate for preferential service;

c) cash counter for exclusive service; or

d) implementation of other personalized service;

II - ease of access for persons with physical disabilities or reduced mobility, temporary or permanent, observing the security system provided for in current legislation and regulation;

III - accessibility to cash counters and self-service terminals, as well as ease of circulation for the persons referred to in the previous item;

IV - provision of information about their operational procedures to sensory-disabled persons (visual and auditory).

Paragraph 1. For the purposes of compliance with the provisions of items II and III, a deadline of 720 days is established, counted from the date of entry into force of the regulation of Law No. 10,098, of December 19, 2000, for the institutions referred to in Art. 1, to adapt their facilities.

Paragraph 2. The start of operation of a financial institution's premises is conditioned upon compliance with the provisions referred to in items II and III, after the regulation of Law No. 10,098, of 2000.

Art. 10. The data contained in magnetic cards issued by the institutions referred to in Art. 1 must be obligatorily printed in raised relief, within a deadline to be defined by the Central Bank of Brazil.

Art. 11. The institutions referred to in Art. 1 cannot establish, for persons with disabilities and the elderly, due to these conditions, requirements greater than those fixed for other clients, except for legal provisions.

Art. 12. The institutions referred to in Art. 1 cannot impose on sensory-disabled persons (visual and auditory) requirements different from those established for non-disabled persons, in the contracting of operations and provision of services.

Sole Paragraph. With a view to ensuring full knowledge of the terms of contracts, institutions must:

I - provide, in the case of visually impaired persons, the reading of the full text of the contract, aloud, requiring a declaration from the contractor that they have taken knowledge of its provisions, certified by two witnesses, without prejudice to the adoption, at their discretion, of other measures with the same purpose;

II - require, in the case of hearing-impaired persons, the reading, by them, of the full text of the contract, before its signature.

Art. 13. In the execution of services resulting from agreements entered into with other entities by financial institutions, discrimination between clients and non-clients regarding service hours and location is prohibited.

Sole Paragraph. The prohibition referred to in the caput does not apply to:

I - service provided inside a company or other entities, through service points, or in facilities not visible to the public;

II - the fixing of specific or additional hours for certain segments and separate or differentiated service, including through outsourcing of services or their provision in partnership with other financial institutions, provided that transparent criteria are adopted.

Art. 14. The adoption of administrative measures regarding the operation of the premises of the institutions referred to in Art. 1 that may imply restrictions on access to areas intended for public service is prohibited.

Art. 15. It is prohibited for the institutions referred to in Art. 1 to deny or restrict, to clients and the public user, service by conventional means, including cash counters, even in the event of alternative or electronic service.

Paragraph 1. The provisions in the caput do not apply to exclusively electronic premises.

Paragraph 2. The provision of services by means alternative to conventional ones is a prerogative of the institutions referred to in the caput, with them being responsible for adopting measures that preserve the integrity, reliability, security, and confidentiality of transactions carried out, as well as the legitimacy of the services provided, in light of the rights of clients and users, and, when necessary, informing them of existing risks.

Art. 16. In cash withdrawals made in a checking account, at the branch where the account holder maintains it, it is prohibited for financial institutions to establish deadlines that postpone the operation to the following business day.

Sole Paragraph. In the event of withdrawals of values exceeding R$5,000.00 (five thousand reais), a request must be made four hours in advance of the closing of business, at the branch where the account holder maintains the account from which the withdrawal is made.

Art. 17. The contracting of any operations conditioned or linked to the performance of other operations or the acquisition of other goods and services is prohibited.

Paragraph 1. The prohibition referred to in the caput additionally applies to promotions and the offering of products and services or any other situations that imply an artificial increase in price or interest rates applicable to the operation of interest to the client.

Paragraph 2. In the event of an operation that implies, by force of current legislation, the contracting of an additional operation, the right of free choice of the institution with which the additional contract must be made is guaranteed to the contractor.

Paragraph 3. The provisions in the caput do not prevent the contractual provision of debit in a deposit account as the exclusive means of payment of obligations.

Art. 18. It is prohibited for the institutions referred to in Art. 1:

I - to automatically transfer funds from checking accounts and savings deposit accounts to any investment modality, as well as to carry out any other operation or provision of service without prior authorization from the client or user, except as a result of prior adjustments between the parties;

II - to prevail, due to the age, health, knowledge, social, or economic condition of the client or user, to impose a contract, contractual clause, operation, or service provision;

III - to increase, without just cause, the value of rates, fees, commissions, or any other form of remuneration of operations or services, or to charge them in a value higher than that established in current regulation and legislation;

IV - to apply a formula or index of adjustment different from that legally or contractually established;

V - to fail to stipulate a deadline for the fulfillment of their obligations or to leave the fixing of the initial term to their exclusive discretion;

VI - to terminate, suspend, or cancel a contract, operation, or service, or to execute a guarantee outside the legal or contractually provided hypotheses;

VII - to expose the client or user to any type of constraint or threat in the collection of the debt.

Paragraph 1. The authorization referred to in item I must be provided in writing or by electronic means, with a stipulated validity period, which may be indefinite, admitted to be provided in the contract instrument itself for the opening of the deposit account.

Paragraph 2. The cancellation of the authorization referred to in item I must take effect from the date defined by the client, or in their absence, from the date of receipt by the financial institution of the relevant request.

Paragraph 3. In the case of an operation or service subject to a regime of control or fee or rate scheduling, the institutions referred to in Art. 1 cannot exceed the established limits, with them being required to return the amounts received in excess, updated, in accordance with applicable legal norms, without prejudice to other applicable sanctions.

Paragraph 4. The prohibitions referred to in this article do not apply to cases of reversal necessary to correct erroneous postings resulting from operational errors by the financial institution, which must be communicated immediately to the client.

Art. 19. Non-compliance with the provisions of this Resolution subjects the institution and its administrators to the sanctions provided for in current legislation and regulation.

Art. 20. The Central Bank of Brazil is authorized to:

I - issue norms and adopt measures deemed necessary for the execution of the provisions of this Resolution, including regulating new situations arising from the relationship between the natural and legal persons specified in the previous articles;

II - fix, due to operational issues, different deadlines for compliance with the provisions of this Resolution.

Art. 21. This Resolution enters into force on the date of its publication.

Art. 22. Paragraph 2 of Article 1 of Resolution No. 1,764, of October 31, 1990, with wording given by Resolution No. 1,865, of September 5, 1991, Resolution No. 2,411, of July 31, 1997, and Communication No. 7,270, of February 9, 2000, are repealed.

Brasília, July 26, 2001

Carlos Eduardo de Freitas
Interim President