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.
Through a bank account statement, credit institutions must provide customers with the information on the movements in their deposit account.
The statement should identify, at least:
The start and end dates of the period to which the statement refers;
The dates of movements;
The value date of movements;
The description of the operation to which the movements refer;
The amounts and nature of the movements (debit or credit);
The currency of denomination;
The accounting balance resulting from the movements;
The balance available at the end of the period;
The confirmation of the eligibility of deposits for the purposes of the deposit guarantee system, by reference to the depositor information template.
In some accounts, the information regarding the movements in the account can be provided through a bankbook made available to the customer.
Statements must be made available on a monthly basis, unless there have been no account movements (in which case an annual statement must be made available).
In addition to this statement, credit institutions should also send to the customer, in January of each year, a free statement of fees that details all the fees and expenses associated with the current account paid in the previous calendar year.
Institutions are also obliged to make available to depositors the depositor information template at least once a year in the medium and through the means of communication agreed with the customer to provide periodic information on the deposit.
Credit institutions are required to disclose two types of balances:
This corresponds to the result of all credit and debit transactions made to the account.
It includes, in particular, the amounts corresponding to deposits in cheques before their funds are made available. These amounts are considered when determining the balance of the accounts, but because they are not yet effectively available, their use before their respective value date may imply the payment of interest or other charges.
The accounting balance may be negative. This happens when customers make short-term withdrawals or when they use amounts made available by the credit institution as a credit facility (as in so-called “salary accounts”).
This corresponds to the amount that can be used without the payment of interest or any other charges.
It does not include, in particular, amounts relating to credit facilities (authorised overdrafts or early withdrawal of deposited amounts pending good collection), the use of which would imply payment of interest or other charges.
Credit institutions may make other balances available. Customers should ask the institution for information on how to calculate them.
Information relating to credit facilities associated with the account in question, such as the maximum amount of credit available or the amount available at any time, shall not be included in the available balance or in the balance of accounts. This information can be obtained from the credit institution or through other means provided by the credit institution.
Aviso n.º 4/2009
Aviso n.º 7/2016
Crédito – o que é e tipos de crédito (facilidades de descoberto)