Itaú offline: understand your rights – 08/08/2023 – Market

Throughout this Monday (7), Itaú was offline after experiencing internal failures in its system, which caused instability in the application and on the website. The bank announced on social media at 8:21 pm yesterday that services had been restored.

However, this Tuesday morning (8), some users still registered complaints on Twitter, now called X, claiming that the application still had instabilities. The DownDetector website, which compiles complaints in real time, registered 55 complaints at 10:08 am.

In a statement, the bank apologized and said its channels had been re-established and were operating normally. “Itaú apologizes for the inconvenience caused to customers and partners.”

The failure that occurred on Monday caused inconvenience to customers who wanted to pay their bills, withdraw wages and carry out transactions on the fifth working day of August. Itaú has 99 million customers, according to the Central Bank.

The report asked Itaú about measures to repair those who have suffered any losses, such as non-payment of bills by account holders or trade notes by legal entities. The bank did not respond at the time of publication of this text.

A possible failure in the bank’s system can overload other service channels, causing consumer discomfort, says Ione Amorim, from Idec (Brazilian Institute for Consumer Protection). Even so, the bank needs to offer alternatives to the customer.

“The bank needs to provide other means of settling debts with the supplier. If the customer runs out of possibilities and is unable to make the payment, repairs are in order. Failures can happen, but they need to be minimized”, he says.

See what to do if your bank is down

Fines and interest on overdue bills can be refunded

If your bank’s system has been down, preventing the payment of any account, the customer can seek the SAC (Customer Service), the ombudsman or the institution’s manager to request reimbursement of the fine and interest that accrues. about the overdue account.

“The Consumer Defense Code protects the customer, the weakest part of this consumer relationship. However, the CDC requires that the parties act in good faith. Therefore, the consumer cannot make this protest if he has a bank account at another institution that had no flaws in its system”, explains Lucas Sampaio, from the Abe Advogados office and master in law from PUC-SP (Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo).

“It is important that the customer proves not only the damage, the overpayment, but that he acted in good faith and took steps to try to find a solution. Show that he does not have an account at another financial institution and that he sought other channels to pay and couldn’t, like the bank’s physical branches”, he says.

Sampaio points out, however, that the situation is different if the failure happens in a digital bank, which does not have physical branches.

Customer can try to dialogue with supplier and ask for exemption from fine

In cases of failures that can postpone the payment of bills, consumers can seek dialogue with the service provider, be it a water or electricity company or health plans, to seek exemption from fines.

“The supplier on the other side wants to receive payment for the bill. In this case, the citizen can seek to argue that the bank had a systemic failure and that it does not have another bank account”, says Amorim.

The specialist says that it is important to gather evidence, such as screen prints or service protocols issued at the physical agency, which show delay in service time.

Amorim recalls that the supplier is not obliged to grant exemption from the fine. Therefore, if the company does not accept the agreement, the consumer must request the bank to repair the amount.

Have a bank account at more than one bank

One way for consumers to prevent this type of situation is to have an account at one more bank, whether a traditional or digital institution.

With this, the customer can use this second bank account to settle debts and avoid fines and interest arising from delay, says Sampaio.

“Having a second account is a way out. The average number of bank accounts per Brazilian has been rising, especially after the emergence of digital banks. It is even interesting for situations of fraud”, says Amorim.

Customers who have another account without balance, paid a debt in the middle of a main bank breakdown and entered the overdraft, can ask for a statement from the bank where they made the payment and request compensation for the interest generated, according to the specialist at the consumer institute.

Register the accounts in automatic debit

Registering automatic debit accounts can be useful to avoid inconvenience with your bank being offline, according to Sampaio. “If payment is not made due to the bank’s failure, the customer will have proof that he has discharged his obligations.”

“It’s good to have bills for essential services, such as water and electricity, on automatic debit, to prevent exposure to situations of this type”, says Amorim, from Idec. “Automatic debit is just not interesting in cases of post-paid telephony and credit cards, since these are services that are more difficult to contest any undue debit.”

Complaints can be made to the Central Bank or Procon

In addition to extrajudicial attempts through the SAC or the bank’s ombudsman, the customer who feels aggrieved can file a complaint with the Central Bank or other consumer protection channels.

“For an individual complaint, citizens have access to the website Consumidor.gov.br [da Senacon]or the state or municipal Procons”, says Sampaio.

“In the case of a collective complaint, the ideal is to seek the Public Prosecutor’s Office to file a claim for compensation for consumers who may be harmed”, he says.

In the case of companies that have not been able to settle payroll or bills, the ideal is to go to court, according to Amorim.

“In general, even as a matter of security, companies usually have more than one bank account linked to the CNPJ. However, if it has been harmed by a systemic failure by the bank, the company can go to court,” she says.