Caixa Registers Emergency Aid App Flaws; Customers Complain Money Disappeared

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Nubank and PicPay digital accounts customers have been claiming since Tuesday, July 7th, that money is missing from their accounts. The amount allegedly missing relates to the emergency aid, but it has not vanished. It was returned to the Caixa Econômica Federal (Federal Savings Bank).

Beneficiaries of the emergency aid are required to manage the money through ‘Caixa Tem’, an App that has been faulty since the start of the R$600 (US$120) aid payment.

With the queuing at branches and shortage of cash, Caixa has set up a schedule to withdraw the money. When announcing the payment of the third emergency aid installment for June, the schedule also restricted transfers to other banks.

These transactions depend on the beneficiary’s date of birth and can be conducted starting July 18th with a schedule that extends to September.

Meanwhile, beneficiaries can use the App to read QR-Codes on card machines, pay for purchases in stores, as well as pay bills.

Most of the country’s digital fintechs accounts accept cash deposits in boleto (a payment method using a form), a service designed to bypass the high fees of DOC and TED bank transfers.

In the emergency aid context, the tool is now used to transfer the money to an account before the Caixa’s calendar.

The state-owned bank contacted Nubank stating that it had identified double boleto payments, and requested the refund of overpaid amounts. According to financial market sources, the request is standard practice.

However, after the funds began to be returned, the Fintechs realized that several of the operations were not duplicates, but rather two boletos having the same amount paid and with the corresponding receipts. Instead of paying a single R$600 ticket, for instance, customers were paying two R$300 tickets. The chargebacks to Caixa were interrupted after the issue was detected.

The ‘Caixa Tem’ App ticket payment function displays issues and instructs users to try the operation later.

In the case of PicPay, the communication error prevented the transaction. In a note, PicPay states that 2.9 million users transferred the aid to their digital accounts and that the flaw was the result of instability in the Caixa App. In the case of PicPay, the money is taking time to be returned to the Caixa.

Nubank wrote on its social media that it complied with the Caixa’s request, but that upon realizing the customers’ complaints, it suspended the chargebacks and returned the amounts.

“We want to start this thread the way we have always worked with our customers: transparent. So we came here to say that everything is fine with your account and with Nubank too.” Nubank (@nubank) July 8th, 2020

Caixa failed to answer questions from Folha de S. Paulo before its article was published.

This is only one of the issues with the Caixa App, which serves 65.2 million Brazilians who lost their income during the novel coronavirus pandemic. There is an hours-long waiting list to access the App.

In addition to the emergency aid beneficiaries, Caixa will use ‘Caixa Tem’ to pay the R$1,045 FGTS (Severance Indemnity Fund). The amounts will be transferred from the worker’s fund account to the Caixa by September 21st, also according to a calendar that follows the birth month. However, withdrawals and transfers will only be available between July 25th and November 14th.

Source: Folha de S.Paulo