Card debt portability will bring greater control to the consumer

Financial Institution

Expert recommends comparing proposals between banks

Regulated together with the interest ceiling for the revolving credit card, the portability of the credit card outstanding balance will bring greater control to the consumer. Experts, however, recommend comparing proposals between financial institutions, before negotiating more favorable conditions.

Unlike the limit on revolving fees, which came into force this Wednesday (3), portability will only be valid from July, along with measures that will bring more transparency to the card bill.

According to the president of Instituto Locomotiva and founder of Data Favela, Renato Meirelles, portability will bring greater control to the consumer, by allowing him to negotiate the conditions of debt refinancing with the institution that offers the lowest rates or longest terms. “Brazilians were stuck in a situation of debt, of legalized usury, with absurdly distorted interest rates and now they are the owners of their own debt, able to negotiate and no longer have such a great risk of being trapped in the snowball of card”, he highlights.

Finance professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) Myrian Lund advises consumers not to accept the first proposal offered on invoices or applications from financial institutions. According to her, it is important to talk to a manager or other financial agent and negotiate more favorable conditions.

“Whenever your credit goes for analysis, you get a lower rate. Everything that is easy is bad,” she explains. The professor recommends offers from credit unions, which carry out more careful analyzes when granting credit, but tend to offer better conditions than banks.

Executive Director of Procon-SP, Luiz Orsatti Filho says that portability needs to be accompanied by the transmission of correct information to consumers and investment in financial education. Later this month, Procon-SP will invite representatives of credit companies to discuss effective information and guidance actions in the institutions’ relationship with customers and in the definition of routines and procedures for each business model.

Regulation

Portability and transparency in invoices were regulated by the National Monetary Council (CMN) at the end of December, in the same resolution that established the interest limit for revolving credit and invoices divided into 100% of the debt value.

Through portability, the revolving debt and invoice installments can be transferred to another financial institution that offers better renegotiation conditions. The measure, which was not foreseen in the Desenrola Law, which established the ceiling for revolving payments, also applies to other post-paid payment instruments, modalities in which resources are deposited to pay debts already incurred.

In relation to transparency, credit card invoices must have, from July 1st, a prominent area, with essential information, such as the total value of the invoice, due date of the invoice for the current period and total credit limit .

Invoices must also have an area where payment options are offered. In this area, only the following information must be specified: amount of the mandatory minimum payment; value of charges to be charged in the following period in case of minimum payment; financing options for the outstanding balance of the invoice, presented in order from lowest to highest total amount payable; effective monthly and annual interest rates; and Total Effective Cost (CET) of credit operations.

Finally, invoices will have an area with additional information. This field must contain information such as entries in the payment account; identification of contracted credit operations; interest and charges charged in the current period; total value of interest and financial charges charged relating to contracted credit operations; identification of fees charged; individual limits for each type of operation, among other data.

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