Brazilian Banks Cannot Eliminate In-person Teller Station Services

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Banks will not be allowed to bypass personal customer service, even when other channels are available. The Central Bank’s (BC) decision was published yesterday, September 2nd, in the Federal Gazette, under Resolution No. 4,746.

This measure was defined at a meeting of the National Monetary Council on August 29th. According to the resolution, institutions are “prohibited from preventing access to, refusing, hindering or imposing restrictions on in-person services at their premises, including teller stations, to customers or users of products and services, even when services are available through other channels”.

This determination does not apply to billing or collection services, when no agreement or convention has been entered into between the financial institution and the beneficiary; or the agreement or convention entered into does not include cash withdrawals at the institution’s premises.

The rule further excludes the receipt of payment slips issued outside standards, specifications or requirements in force for the instrument; receipt of payments by check; and institutions that do not have branches, or branches of institutions that do not have counters with tellers.

Service points set up in a governmental or private entity, where services are exclusively for use by entity, are also excluded from this determination.

The resolution further establishes that “the imposition of restrictions on the number of documents, transactions or operations per person, as well as on the maximum or minimum amount to be paid or received or even on the possibility of the client or user to choose payments in cash, is prohibited”.

According to the resolution, credit unions are required to post notifications in their facilities, “in a visible location and in a legible format, whether they provide services to non-members and what services are available”.

In a note, the Brazilian Federation of Banks (FEBRABAN) reported that the Central Bank’s Resolution 4.746 does not alter the list of products offered or services provided in person at bank branches. “The text establishes new rules for the way financial institutions should notify their clients of cases in which face-to-face service is not provided at that service point. Banks are working to adapt to the new rules in the shortest time possible,” said FEBRABAN.

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