Banco de Portugal defines the services to be included in the Fees Comparator

As from 1 October, this feature of the Bank Customer Website will enable consumers to compare fees on a variety of services linked to payment accounts, such as the costs applicable to maintaining the account (including the package account), providing debit and credit cards, cash withdrawals, purchase of cheques and credit transfers.

The Fees Comparator allows customers to compare (by institution or service) the maximum fees charged for the services provided, also taking into account the sales channels available for each service. The search results are presented in accordance with the order chosen by the consumer and the data are exportable, allowing them to be stored and processed.

When providing information to their customers about the fees associated with the services included in the Fees Comparator, institutions are obliged to use standardised terminology. For example, the fees associated with the management of a current account or other payment account is referred to as the fee for maintaining the account. Likewise, the costs associated with the issuance and annuity of a debit or credit card are included in the service ‘providing a debit card’ or ‘providing a credit card’.

This standardised terminology must be used in the provision of information to all bank customers.

This Instruction applies to credit institutions, payment institutions and electronic money institutions with head office or branch in Portugal, as well as to credit financial institutions.

About the Fees Comparator

The legislator instructed Banco de Portugal to provide consumers with a comparison website that would enable them to compare the fees charged for at least the most representative services linked to payment accounts, identified in Instruction No. 11/2018.

As of 1 October, the Fees Comparator will provide information on 93 fees charged not only for the most representative services but also for other services not covered by Instruction No. 11/2018. The Fees Comparator will provide information on a wide variety of services and the different channels used to market them.

In compliance with the mandate received from the legislator, the Fees Comparator provides objective information on the maximum price that each institution charges for the respective service, ensuring that institutions are treated fairly in the search results.

The Comparator does not recommend or advise consumers on the purchase of products or services. The provision of this type of services does not fall under the legal responsibilities of Banco de Portugal.

Information to be provided in the Fees Comparator

In addition to the fees associated with the maintenance of a basic bank account and a standard account, which have been available since May 2017, the Fees Comparator includes the following services:

• Maintenance of a simple payment account (for example, a current account that is not packaged with other products or services);

• Maintenance of package accounts (i.e. accounts that are subscribed in conjunction with other products or services, where the fee for maintaining the account covers the provision of all of these services);

• Provision of debit and credit cards;

• Provision of private credit cards (i.e. cards that are used exclusively in certain stores or are used to purchase a very limited range of goods and services);

• Cash withdrawals;

• Cash advance;

• Request and delivery of crossed cheques, either they are “to the order of” or “not to the order of” cheques;

• Credit transfers;

• Standing orders (i.e. regular transfers, of a fixed amount of money, from the consumer’s account to another account).

The information provided in the Comparator takes into account the most relevant sales channels based on current market practices: at the counter, ATM, ATS, online, mobile, SMS, telephone with operator, telephone without operator and mail.

In products in which there is a wider diversity in the offer of institutions (package accounts, debit cards, credit cards and private credit cards), consumers can compare the cost charged by institutions for the provision of the services based on the most common products offered by each institution.

Information reporting to Banco de Portugal by institutions

The Instruction defines a set of requirements that institutions must observe when reporting information on the Fees Comparator.

Institutions must provide Banco de Portugal with information on the maximum cost of each service, regardless of the existence of any exemptions or discounts. This information must also include the amounts payable by consumers as tax so that the amount disclosed represents the final cost to be paid by the consumer. The intention is to obtain information on the maximum amount that can be charged for each service so as to allow an objective comparison of the fees applicable to the services in question.

Institutions must inform Banco de Portugal of the amount of the fee on an annual basis as well as the frequency it is charged, except of course, in the case of a fee associated with a service provided only occasionally.

In situations where the applicable fee depends on the channel through which the service is provided, institutions are required to report information on the maximum fee charged for each of the sales channels identified in the Instruction.

In the case of fees associated with the maintenance of payment accounts and the provision of payment cards, institutions must indicate the brand name of the products in question in order to help consumers to obtain additional information on the respective marketing characteristics and conditions.

Preparation of the Instruction

Banco de Portugal organised a public consultation on the first version of the Instruction between 9 July and 10 August (Public Consultation of Banco de Portugal No. 5/2018 – only in Portuguese).

The contributions received were analysed and weighted. Banco de Portugal accepted all those that were deemed to improve the aim of the Comparator, in other words, those that provided exact and objective information on the maximum fees applicable to a range of important services linked to payment accounts.

The report of the public consultation (only in Portuguese) was also published today by Banco de Portugal.