Capítulo II. Aspectos contractuales y financiamiento

The issuer, the cardholder and the guarantor, if any, shall formalize by means of a written contract the line of credit granted to the cardholder for the use of the credit card for the acquisition of goods, services or cash withdrawals at affiliates, the cardholder undertaking to pay the amounts charged to him, in accordance with the agreed conditions.

Credit card contracts shall have the status of enforceable titles and they shall not require a legalized signature.

The contract shall contain, at a minimum, clauses on the following aspects:

1)Credit limit;

2)Geographic area of use of the credit card;

3)Term of the contract;

4)Type of currency;

5)Financing interest rate and method of calculation, as well as the equivalent annual effective rate;

6)Interest rate for default and method of calculation;

7)Commission rates and other charges;

8)Information regarding the account statement;

9)Charges collected by the issuer on behalf of third parties;

10)Payment deadline;

11)Rights and obligations of the issuer and the cardholder;

12)The procedure to be followed in case of robbery, theft, fraud, loss, cloning or unauthorized use of the card;

13)Conditions and procedure for objections to transactions contained in the account statement;

14)Grounds for termination of the contract;

15)Minimum payment and method for determining it;

16)Insurance premium, if any;

17)Commission or charge for cash withdrawals with the credit card;

18)Prizes and bonuses for the use of the card, when applicable;

19)Annual membership or credit card use fee, if any.

The text of the contract shall allow for its easy reading and understanding, as well as highlight the clauses establishing obligations for both the cardholder and the issuer. The issuer is obligated to make a copy of the contract available to the cardholder by any means, no later than within five (5) days following delivery of the authorized credit card.

The credit limit may be modified, increasing or reducing it, by the issuer while the contract is in force and must be communicated to the cardholder, on each occasion by the means agreed upon by the parties.

Any change to what was agreed or to the stipulations and terms of the contract must be notified to the cardholder and to the guarantor, if any, at the residence, work, or electronic address they have registered, forty-five (45) days in advance. If during said time limit the cardholder does not express disagreement with said changes, it shall be deemed that the cardholder has accepted the modifications or changes that have been notified to the cardholder, including the change to the interest rate.

When the modification to the credit limit has been requested by the cardholder and approved by the issuer, it may enter into force and be notified before the time limit cited above.

In exceptional cases, when the issuer determines the existence of risk factors, it may disable the credit card or reduce the limit of the credit line, which must be notified immediately to the cardholder.

If the changes to the contractual conditions are not accepted, the contract may be terminated on the terms indicated in the present law.

The issuer, prior to granting the credit line and extra-financing or modifying the limit of a credit line, must ascertain that the applicant, the guarantor if any, or the cardholder, as applicable, have the capacity to meet timely payment of their obligations within the time limit of said financings.

When the issuer identifies, while the financing is in force, that the cardholder does not have the capacity to meet timely payment, it must inform the cardholder that the cardholder may request a payment agreement.

Credit card issuers are obligated to provide the information determined by the Superintendency of Banks, related to the risk information system referred to in the Banks and Financial Groups Law, Decree Number 19-2002 of the Congress of the Republic;

Issuers shall have access to the risk information system for purposes of credit analyses of cardholders, which may not be disclosed by any means, outside the use indicated in this article.

The validity of credit card contracts may be agreed for a fixed or indefinite term, which may be extended, where applicable, as agreed by the parties. The credit card may have a validity equal to or less than that of the respective contract.

The principal cardholder may at any time terminate the contractual relationship, communicating their intent to the issuer in writing or by any other means of communication that allows verification of the identification of the cardholder and of the communication. In this case, the contract shall be deemed terminated immediately after receipt of the cancellation communication.

The issuer, upon prior notice of forty-five (45) days in advance to the cardholder, may terminate the contract before the stipulated term, only for applicable legal provisions or orders of authority and for such grounds as are explicitly contained in the contract. In both cases, if there is a balance owed by the cardholder, the cardholder must pay it as agreed in the contract or in any other manner agreed with the issuer. The cardholder retains the right to make payments in the ordinary manner until paying their balance, remaining obligated to pay the interest or charges incurred, in the form and time limit established in their contract.

Once the principal cardholder has paid the balance owed and is consequently free of obligations to the issuer, the issuer shall make a release available to the cardholder within thirty (30) days following such payment.

Termination of the contract and issuance of the release entail no cost or charge whatsoever for the cardholder.

Credit cards shall be issued in the name of a person, on a non-transferable basis and must contain, at a minimum, the following information:

1.Name and space for the signature, when the holder is a natural person; or any other means for identification of the cardholder;

2.In the case of legal persons; name and space for the signature of the natural person authorized for its use, or any other means for identification of the cardholder;

3.Credit card brand;

4.Month and year of expiry;

5.Corporate name or trade name of the credit card issuing institution;

6.Number assigned to the credit card; and,

7.Code or security device.

In the case of electronic credit cards or of any other technology, they shall contain the elements as determined by the issuer, who must provide for use by the cardholder, at a minimum as required by the brands but not limited to, the card number, the assigned personal identification number, the access key and the codes or other security devices.

For purposes of this law, those issued by commercial entities, which are delivered to their customers to make purchases exclusively in their establishments; and, those in which affiliation services provided by an operator are not used, shall not be considered credit cards.

Extra-financings granted by the issuer pursuant to the corresponding contract shall be considered additional credits linked to the credit card, which may be granted to the titular cardholder under conditions and time limits different from the credit line. Such extra-financings shall be granted in accordance with the payment capacity established in this law. Acceptance of the extra-financings by the cardholder must be provable by any means and the issuer must make it available to the cardholder.

The issuer shall enter into a payment agreement when, with respect to the cardholder:

a)The issuer identifies, while the financing is in force, that the cardholder is unable to meet two or more timely payments, or that the debt incurred has reached one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the credit limit authorized to the cardholder. In this case, the issuer, using all means available to it, which shall be recorded, shall inform the cardholder that the cardholder may request a payment agreement, which the issuer is obligated to enter into when the cardholder expresses interest in entering into it.

b)The cardholder does not agree with the modification of the interest rate established by the issuer.

c)The conditions of the original contract vary to the cardholder's detriment, but the cardholder is unable to pay the entirety of the debt incurred.

In the foregoing cases, the issuer shall enter into the payment agreement, by mutual agreement with the cardholder, within thirty (30) days following receipt of the request, under reasonable conditions that the cardholder can meet.

The interest rate for entering into payment agreements shall be calculated on the initial amount of the credit balance; in no case may it be calculated or fixed proportionally on interest, default, surcharges or other services or on the amount owed subject to the payment agreement.

The payment agreement shall be formalized by means of a legal document, at no cost, and shall have the character of an enforceable title, with the contract that originated the cardholder's debt being rendered ineffective; it shall be signed by both parties; in the case of the issuer, the signature of its legal representative or agent may be handwritten or be replaced by printing or reproduction or other mechanism permitted by legal provisions.

The payment agreement may be cancelled early without any surcharge applying for such reason.

The issuer must make available to the debtor a copy of the payment agreement, within five (5) days following its signing.

Issuers may freely agree with cardholders on the interest rate applicable to the line of credit as established in this law.

Upon execution of the credit card contract, the parties may agree on a fixed interest rate or a variable interest rate, as follows:

a)The fixed interest rate shall be that freely agreed by the issuer with the cardholder and it may not be modified while the contract is in force, unless such modification is for the benefit of the cardholder; and,

b)The variable interest rate shall be that freely agreed by the issuer with the cardholder, which may be reviewed semi-annually and shall be communicated to the cardholder in the respective account statement.

The issuer shall notify the cardholder forty-five (45) days in advance that the interest rate has been modified and if the latter does not accept the new rate, he/she may request from the issuer that his/her accumulated balance as of that date be paid through a payment agreement, for which the procedure established in this law shall be followed.

When the charging of interest applies, it shall be calculated on the financed capital balance and for the days during which it has been used until the cut-off date.

When partial payments are made, interest shall be charged only on the financed balance.

Interest may not be capitalized in any form, nor may it be calculated on commissions and other charges. In the case of a payment agreement, interest may be considered as part of the capital of the new debt.

The Superintendency of Banks shall publish on its website monthly and in a newspaper of major circulation semi-annually, a report that, in a manner visible and understandable to the public, reports on the weighted average interest rate for credit card operations, as well as the weighted average interest rate by issuer so as to facilitate comparison by the public.

The Superintendency of Banks shall ensure that credit card issuers publish, permanently on their website in a manner comprehensible to the public, information regarding interest rates, the default interest rate, commissions and any other charge on the credit cards they issue.

Default interest shall be calculated on the outstanding principal balance of the principal installment or installments in default, according to the days in default, and the agreed financing interest rate shall apply as a maximum. Such interest shall not be capitalized.

The issuer may only charge fees and other charges that have been previously expressly agreed with the cardholder, for services actually rendered, such fees and other charges may not be capitalized nor may interest be charged thereon.

Issuers shall calculate an equivalent annual effective rate for informational purposes, which they shall communicate to the cardholder annually in their account statement.

The credit card issuer must reliably place on record that the cardholder was informed, before and at the signing of the credit card contract, of the monthly and annual interest percentage, fixed or variable as applicable. Likewise, the possibility of a change in the interest rate while the contract is in force. Any misleading advertising practice shall be sanctioned in accordance with the Law.