SBS Resolution No. 3240-2023: Amends Regulations on Market Conduct, Commissions and Expenses, Credit and Debit Cards, and Information Security and Cybersecurity Management in the Financial System

Los Laureles No. 214 - Lima 27 - Peru Tel. : (511) 6309000 Lima, October 02, 2023

S.B.S. Resolution
No. 3240-2023

The Superintendent of Banking, Insurance and
Private Pension Fund Administrators

WHEREAS:

By means of SBS Resolution No. 3274-2017 and its amendments, the Market Conduct Management Regulation of the Financial System was approved, with the purpose that companies have adequate market conduct management in accordance with the current regulatory framework, reflected in the practices they adopt in their relationship with users, in the offer of financial products and services, in information transparency and in claims management;

As a result of supervision actions, it is considered necessary to modify the Market Conduct Management Regulation of the Financial System, as well as the Regulation on Commissions and Expenses of the Financial System, approved by SBS Resolution No. 3748-2021 and its amendments, considering the current functioning of the products and/or services offered by financial system companies to users and the impact of the use of new technologies, as well as the obligations of companies associated with compliance with imperative provisions;

Likewise, as a result of supervision actions, it has been verified in relation to the contracting of debt cancellation insurance or insurance that protects the asset given as collateral, that it is necessary to define these as the only insurance that is a condition for contracting credits, with any other insurance or coverage being offered independently without being conditioned on the contracting of a credit; as well as, it has been deemed important to specify that the term of the debt cancellation insurance must not exceed the term of the credit;

Also, it is necessary to modify the Credit and Debit Card Regulation, approved by SBS Resolution No. 6523-2013 and its amendments, to define that it is not necessarily the card issuer who establishes the maximum amount of micropayment operations; as well as the Regulation for Information Security and Cybersecurity Management, approved by SBS Resolution No. 504-2021, to guarantee notification to users when operations are carried out;

Furthermore, it is necessary to clarify the difference between the nature of claims and complaints, in accordance with the specific regulations on each matter, in order to determine their treatment, for which reason it must be provided in the Claims and Requirements Regulation, approved by SBS Resolution No. 4036-2022, that only those manifestations of user dissatisfaction that are necessarily related to the products and services contracted by them are claims, and consequently, companies must keep them differentiated from complaints in the register and reports of claims and requirements;

In order to gather user opinions regarding the proposed regulation, the draft resolution was pre-published on the Superintendency's electronic portal, under the provisions of Supreme Decree No. 001-2009-JUS; and regarding the modification of the Claims and Requirements Regulation, it is published based on the exception conditions established in Article 14 of Supreme Decree No. 001-2009-JUS and its amending regulations;

With the approval of the Assistant Superintendencies of Banking and Microfinance, Insurance, Private Pension Fund Administrators, Legal Advisory, Risks, and Market Conduct and Financial Inclusion; and,

In use of the powers conferred in numbers 7 and 9 of Article 349 of the General Law of the Financial and Insurance System and Organic Law of the Superintendency of Banking and Insurance, Law No. 26702 and its amending regulations;

RESOLVES:

Article First.- Modify the Market Conduct Management Regulation of the Financial System, approved by SBS Resolution No. 3274-2017 and its amendments, as indicated below:

1. Incorporate letter f) in number 1 of paragraph 17.2 of Article 17 and number 3 in Article 27, according to the following texts:

"Article 17. Application of commissions and expenses (...)
17.2 In this regard, the following criteria must be observed:

1. Regarding active products, both in the case of new products, and for refinancing or restructuring of credits, essential and/or inherent services are understood to be:
   (...) f) The payment of credit obligations through own channels made available by each company, including early payment and advance installment operations, provided that it is not a charge included in Annex No. 1 of the Regulation on Commissions and Expenses of the Financial System.

Article 27. Responsibility of companies in the contracting of associated insurance
Companies are subject to the requirements established in the Regulation on the Commercialization of Insurance Products, the regulations that modify or replace it. Additionally, companies that offer insurance considered as a condition for contracting, that is, debt cancellation insurance and insurance for the protection of the asset given as collateral, must observe the following:
(...)
3. Additional clauses to contracted policies or insurance products that provide coverages other than those of debt cancellation insurance or insurance aimed at protecting the asset given as collateral, must be optional and their contracting must be carried out independently, requiring the express consent of users for each insurance product or additional coverage; for which, companies must safeguard the corresponding supporting documents of said express consent."

2. Modify numbers 5 and 7 of the Eighth Complementary Final Provision, according to the following texts:

"Eighth.- Debt cancellation insurance as a condition for contracting In the case of contracting debt cancellation insurance, as a condition for contracting a credit product, complementarily to the provisions of Article 27 of this Regulation, companies must observe the following:
(...)
5. The debt cancellation insurance offered by companies must contain only the main coverages of death and total and permanent disability, whose term must not exceed the term of the credit.
(...)
7. If the company offers other coverages different from debt cancellation insurance, these must be optional and require to be presented through policies or additional clauses; likewise, their contracting must be carried out independently of the contracting of debt cancellation insurance and the credit product, for which the express consent of users is required for each product or additional coverage, and the company must safeguard the corresponding supporting documents of said consent."

3. Replace number 16 of Article 2 and number 4 of paragraph 29.1 of Article 29, according to the following texts:

"16. Interest rate that depends on a variable factor: that rate whose fluctuation or periodic adjustment depends on a predetermined indicator (factor) that varies over time and whose adjustment condition is established in the contract. Examples of variable factors are: the variation of the price index, average market interest rates, both active and passive, reference rates applied by the Central Reserve Bank of Peru for credit products for monetary regulation purposes, among others.

Article 29. Early payment and advance installments
29.1 Users have the right to make payments above the installment due in the period, considering for this purpose the following:
(...)
4. Companies must make available for early payment and advance installment operations, at least the same channels used for the payment of installments or credit card obligations, without requiring additional procedures or requirements from the user.
(...)"

Article Second.- Eliminate the commission for "Judicial and/or Administrative Retention" from the category "Services provided at the client's request" of section e) related to transversal services of Annex No. 1 of the Regulation on Commissions and Expenses of the Financial System, approved by SBS Resolution No. 3748-2021 and its amendments.

Article Third.- Replace the text of the commission for "Teller Operation" from the category "Use of channels" of section b) related to mortgage and consumer credits of Annex No. 1 of the Regulation on Commissions and Expenses of the Financial System, approved by SBS Resolution No. 3748-2021 and its amendments, according to the following text:

"2. Teller Operation
Charges for carrying out balance and/or movement inquiries, among other operations, at the entity's teller.
Includes operational management associated with the service."

Article Fourth.- Modify the Credit and Debit Card Regulation, approved by SBS Resolution No. 6523-2013 and its amendments, as indicated below:

1. Replace number 11 of Article 2, according to the following text:

"Article 2. Definitions
(...)
11. Micropayments: operations for insignificant amounts and with a maximum limit, which do not require strong user authentication."

2. Modify number 6 of Article 16, number 6 of the second paragraph and the fourth paragraph of Article 23, according to the following texts:

"Article 16. Security measures regarding users (...)
6. In the case of micropayments, operations must be subject to a maximum amount."

Article 23. Responsibility for unrecognized operations
(...)
6. Micropayment.
(...)
The company is not obliged to assume losses associated with unrecognized operations, when it proves the user's responsibility. In the case of micropayments, the mere use of the card or its information does not prove the user's responsibility with respect to the operation carried out.
(...)"

Article Fifth.- Modify paragraphs 20.1 and 20.2 of Article 20 of the Regulation for Information Security and Cybersecurity Management, approved by SBS Resolution No. 504-2021 and its amendments, as indicated below:

"Article 20. Exemptions from strong authentication for digital channel operations
20.1 The following operations carried out by digital channel are exempt from the strong authentication requirement indicated in Article 19 of this Regulation, with the exception of that indicated in letter c):
(...)
20.2 Payment and transfer operations that present a low level of fraud risk, as a result of an online risk analysis per operation, are exempt from strong authentication, provided that the company complies with:
(...)"

Article Sixth.- Modify the Claims and Requirements Regulation, approved by SBS Resolution No. 4036-2022, as indicated below:

1. Modify paragraph 4.1 of Article 4, the Second Complementary Final Provision and the claim reason code 115 "Improper contracting" applicable to supervised companies of Annex C: Claim Reason Codes, according to the following texts:

"Article 4. Processing of claims
4.1 Claims are communications presented by users or third parties on behalf of users, related solely to contracted products and services, or to operations associated with them, in which they express their dissatisfaction with the operation, product or service received or for the non-compliance with the obligations contemplated in the contracts or in the current regulatory framework, or manifesting the alleged affectation of their legitimate interest.
(...)

Second.- The provisions of this regulation do not exempt from compliance with other applicable provisions referred to claims and requirements, included in the Consumer Protection and Defense Code, Law No. 29571 and its amending regulations, and in the Claims Book Regulation approved by Supreme Decree No. 011-2011-PCM and its amending regulations. Likewise, companies must maintain a record of all complaints presented by users, in compliance with the provisions of the Claims Book Regulation. For this purpose, they may use the database required in paragraph 4.5 of Article 4 of this regulation, under product codes 112 and reason 39.

ANNEX C: CLAIM REASON CODES
APPLICABLE TO SUPERVISED COMPANIES
CODE REASONS
117 Improper contracting

2. Incorporate letter h) in paragraph 15.2 of Article 15, according to the following text:

Article 15. Dissemination of statistics by the company
(...) h) Does not consider communications registered under product code 112 and reason 39, as they are not linked to contracted products and services, or to operations associated with them."

Article Seventh.- The modifications established in Articles First and Third have an adaptation period of one hundred eighty (180) days from the effective date of this resolution, except for the modification of Article 29 of the Market Conduct Management Regulation of the Financial System, which has an adaptation period of three hundred sixty (360) days from the effective date of this resolution.
1
Article Eighth.- This resolution enters into force the day after its publication in the Official Gazette El Peruano.

Register, communicate and publish.

1 By means of Article Sixth of SBS Resolution No. 2286-2024, effective from 06/29/2024, the following was ordered: "In relation to the adaptation period established in Article Seventh of SBS Resolution No. 3240-2023, for the implementation of the modifications to paragraph 4 of section 29.1 of Article 29 of the Market Conduct Management Regulation of the Financial System, approved by SBS Resolution No. 3274-2017, the granted period is extended by one hundred eighty (180) additional days counted from the expiration of the initial period."

MARIA DEL SOCORRO HEYSEN ZEGARRA
SUPERINTENDENT OF BANKING, INSURANCE AND AFP