frequent questions
glossary
What is a basic bank account?
Access to the credit intermediary activity
List of authorised credit intermediaries
How to protect yourself from online fraud?
Know your rights when making payments in Europe.
Do you know what the gross domestic product is? What about inflation? (only in Portuguese)
Key tips to protect yourself when choosing online or mobile banking services.
Credit institutions are companies that receive deposits and other repayable funds from the public and grant credit for their own account.
While banks may practice all types of operations authorised to credit institutions, the remaining credit institutions may only carry out the activities and perform the operations permitted by the legal and regulatory rules that govern their activity.
- Acceptance of deposits or other repayable funds
- Lending, including the granting of guarantees and other commitments, financial leasing and factoring
- Payment services
- Trading for own account or for account of customers in money market and foreign exchange instruments, financial futures and options, exchange and interest rates instruments, goods and transferable securities
- Participation in securities issues and placement and provision of related services
- Money broking
- Portfolio management and advice, safekeeping and administration of securities
- Portfolio management and advice in relation to other assets
- Advice to undertakings on capital structure, corporate strategy and related questions and advice as well as services relating to mergers and the purchase of undertakings
- Dealings in precious metals and stones
- Acquisition of holdings in companies
- Insurance mediation
- Credit reference services
- Safe custody services
- Leasing of movable property, under the terms authorised to financial leasing companies
- Provision of the investment services and investment activities referred to in Article 199-A of the Legal Framework of Credit institutions and Financial Companies, not covered by the preceding subparagraphs
- Issuance of electronic currency
- Other similar transactions not forbidden by law
- Granting of loans guaranteed by pledge or mortgage
- Provision of collection services, cash transfers, rental of safes, real-estate administration, periodic payments and the like
- Execution of other operations, with the authorisation of Banco de Portugal
Caixa Económica Montepio Geral is authorised by Banco de Portugal to carry out all activities permitted to banks.
In addition to the activities legally allowed to savings banks, Caixa Económica da Misericórdia de Angra do Heroísmo is authorised by Banco de Portugal to: carry out lending, money broking, make commercial discounts, acquire government debt securities, shares, bonds and other equity or debt securities quoted in the national stock exchange or in stock exchanges of OECD countries, provide collection services, transfer funds, make periodic payments and the like on behalf of customers, safe custody services and purchase and sell foreign notes and coins or traveller’s cheques, on the terms permitted to the exchange offices.
- Execution of agricultural credit operations in favour of members
- Real-estate management
- Credit reference services Intermediation in payments and others of a similar nature
- Placement of securities provided that they are not linked to the subscription of any portion that is not subscribed by the public
- Purchase and sale of foreign notes and coins or traveller's cheques, under the terms permitted to the exchange offices
The Central Mutual Agricultural Credit Bank is the central body of the integrated system of mutual agricultural credit (SICAM).
- All operations allowed to banks, except for the acceptance of deposits
- Granting, acquisition and sale of mortgage-backed credits on immovable property in order to issue mortgage bonds
- Granting, acquisition and sale of claims on central governments or regional and local authorities of one of the Member States of the European Union and credits with an express and legally binding guarantee from the same entities with a view to issuing public sector bonds
Financial companies are investment firms and financial institutions, with the exception of holding companies subject to the supervision of Banco de Portugal.
Investment firms include:
- Receipt and transmission of orders relating to one or more financial instruments
- Execution of orders on behalf of third parties
- Management of portfolios belonging to third parties
- Placing in public distribution offers
- Registration and deposit of securities
- Granting of credit, including the loan of securities, to carry out transactions in securities involving the dealer
- Consultancy for investment in securities, advice on capital structure, industrial strategy and related questions as well as on mergers and the purchase of undertakings
- Assistance in public offering related to securities
- Foreign exchange services and rental of safe-deposit boxes associated to the provision of investment services
- Placement in public distribution offers, without underwriting
- Investment advice on securities
- Investment advice
- Intermediation operations in the money market and in the foreign exchange market
- Provision of related services
Financial institutions include:
- Execution of operations permitted to banks, with the exception of the acceptance of deposits or other repayable funds from the public and the provision of payment services and issuance of electronic money
- Conduct of financial leasing activities
- In addition, they may sell, dispose of their assets, lease or perform other administrative acts on assets that have been returned to them, as well as lease movable property outside the above conditions
- Acquisition of short-term credits resulting from the sale of products or services in the domestic and foreign markets
- Execution of financial operations
- Provision of related services for the benefit of small and medium enterprises and micro-enterprise
- Execution of financial operations and provision of related services for the benefit of other legal persons and natural persons, in particular students and researchers
- Promotion of productive investment in the area of the respective region and support to the economic and social development of the region, being able to hold shares in the capital of companies incorporated or to be incorporated, grant medium- and long-term credit to companies (for investment in fixed capital, reconstitution of working capital or consolidation of liabilities) and self-employed persons (for setting up in the area of the regional development company or for the modernisation or renovation of equipment)
- Purchase and sale of foreign notes and coins or traveller’s cheques
- In addition, they can buy gold and silver as well as coins for numismatic purposes
- They may carry out the activity of an agent of a payment or electronic money institution established in Portugal or in another Member State of the European Union, under the conditions established in the Legal Regime of Payments and Electronic Currency
- Execution of credit securitisation operations, through their acquisition, management and transfer and the issuance of securitised bonds for payment of credits acquired
- Granting of credit of reduced amounts to private individuals and companies wishing to develop a particular economic activity
- Advice to borrowers and follow-up of the projects financed
- Management, on behalf of the participants, of one or more real-estate investment funds
- They can provide advisory services for real-estate investment and carry out the individual management of real-estate in accordance with legal and regulatory provisions applicable to the management of portfolios on behalf of others
- Management of collective investment undertakings authorised under the Legal Framework governing Collective Investment Undertakings, defined in special legislation
As instituições de pagamento são entidades autorizadas a prestar e executar serviços de pagamento.
São considerados serviços de pagamento, entre outros, os seguintes:
As instituições de pagamento, quando autorizadas noutro Estado-Membro da União Europeia, podem prestar serviços de pagamento em Portugal:
A par das instituições de pagamento, podem ainda prestar serviços de pagamento, nomeadamente, as instituições de crédito, as sociedades financeiras cujo objeto compreenda o exercício dessa atividade, de acordo com as normas legais e regulamentares aplicáveis, as instituições de moeda eletrónica, os CTT – Correios de Portugal, S.A. e, quando atuem desprovidos de poderes de autoridade pública, o Estado, as Regiões Autónomas, os serviços e organismos da administração direta e indireta do Estado e o Banco de Portugal.
As instituições de moeda eletrónica são pessoas coletivas autorizadas a emitir moeda eletrónica.
Adicionalmente, as instituições de moeda eletrónica podem exercer as seguintes atividades:
Para além das instituições de moeda eletrónica, podem ainda emitir moeda eletrónica, nomeadamente, as instituições de crédito, o Estado, as Regiões Autónomas, os serviços e organismos da administração direta e indireta do Estado e o Banco de Portugal.
As instituições de moeda eletrónica, quando autorizadas noutro Estado-Membro da União Europeia, podem emitir moeda eletrónica em Portugal:
Para não induzir o público em erro quanto às operações que determinada instituição possa praticar, somente as instituições de crédito e as sociedades financeiras poderão incluir na sua firma ou denominação expressões como "banco", "banqueiro", "de crédito", "de depósitos", "locação financeira", "leasing" e "factoring". Apenas as instituições de pagamento e as instituições de moeda eletrónica poderão utilizar, respetivamente, as expressões “instituição de pagamento” e “instituição de moeda eletrónica”, podendo incluir a correspondente designação na sua firma ou denominação e utilizá-la no exercício da sua atividade.
As instituições autorizadas a exercer atividade em Portugal constam da lista de instituições autorizadas divulgada pelo Banco de Portugal.
O Banco de Portugal divulga também alertas sobre práticas não autorizadas de atividade financeira e entidades que não se encontram habilitadas a desenvolver este tipo de atividade.
Antes de contratar um produto ou serviço financeiro, o cliente bancário deve certificar-se de que a instituição está registada no Banco de Portugal e de que pode exercer a atividade em causa.
Só as instituições de crédito podem exercer a atividade de receção, do público, de depósitos ou outros fundos reembolsáveis, para utilização por conta própria.
De entre as instituições de crédito, apenas estão autorizadas a receber depósitos do público os bancos, as caixas económicas, a Caixa Central de Crédito Agrícola Mútuo (Caixa Central) e as caixas de crédito agrícola mútuo.
Podem ainda receber fundos reembolsáveis as seguintes entidades:
As sucursais de instituições de crédito com sede em países da União Europeia e as instituições que exercem atividade em regime de livre prestação de serviços também podem receber depósitos, se estiverem autorizadas para o fazer.
Só as instituições de crédito e determinadas sociedades financeiras podem efetuar, a título profissional, operações de crédito, incluindo concessão de garantias e outros compromissos, locação financeira e factoring.
As instituições de pagamento e as instituições de moeda eletrónica podem conceder crédito apenas a título acessório e para a execução de operações de pagamento.
Compete ao Banco de Portugal a supervisão das:
O Banco de Portugal não supervisiona entidades que exercem atividade prestamista (ou seja, que concedem crédito garantido por penhor de bens – usualmente, ouro, prata ou joias).
O Banco de Portugal não tem competência para regular, fiscalizar ou sancionar estas entidades, nem para apreciar queixas ou reclamações relativas à sua atuação.
As instituições de crédito, as sociedades financeiras, as instituições de pagamento e as instituições de moeda eletrónica que tenham atendimento presencial ao público estão obrigadas a prestar atendimento prioritário a:
A pessoa a quem for recusado atendimento prioritário pode requerer a presença de autoridade policial a fim de ultrapassar a situação e para que a autoridade tome nota da ocorrência e a faça chegar ao Banco de Portugal. Em alternativa, pode apresentar uma reclamação através do livro de reclamações ou diretamente ao Banco de Portugal.
Site do Banco de Portugal - Instituições autorizadas
Site do Banco de Portugal - Atividade não autorizada
Site do Banco de Portugal - Autorização de constituição de instituições
Decreto-Lei n.º 58/2016
Lista de agentes de instituições de pagamento
Intermediários de crédito - o que são
Serviços - reclamar de uma instituição