One of the keys to any financial system is the trust that users place in it, and one of the instruments to achieve that trust is an easy knowledge of the system operating conditions, particularly by customers.
To facilitate this knowledge, rules, calls for transparency and customer protection, are issued, the purpose of which is to protect the legitimate interests of customers and establish a set of specific obligations applicable to the contractual relationships that they incur with institutions, requiring communication of the basic conditions of transactions and regulating certain aspects of its advertising, rules of conduct and information.
In this sense, the client has the right to be informed of the product to be taken out, of its nature and of the rights and duties that it accepts with its purchase. In addition, in the same way institutions have the obligation to provide the client with adequate and sufficient explanations that allow them to understand the essential terms of all banking services offered, and to make informed financial decisions. For this right to be effective, there is an obligation for credit institutions to know the client, their experience and the expectations they pursue with the purchase of the products offered. In addition, financial institutions are obliged to act in the best interest of the client, being at the service of their needs and their financial situation.
The exercise of the right to information allows the client, before formalizing the contract, to know the terms and conditions thereof, the applicable commissions and expenses and even, in certain contracts, to receive an offering that binds the institution during a certain period and allows the client to compare the offerings of different institutions and decide on the one that best suits their needs.
On the other hand, the client has the right to keep secret the data relating to their relationship with the credit institution and to avoid its use, without their authorization, for purposes other than the development of the contractual relationship.
However, although bank secrecy is one of the most characteristic instructions of banking activity, reinforced by the regulations for the protection of personal data, there are cases in which credit institutions are obliged to provide information about the relationship with their customers.
Finally, the catalogue of basic duties of the clients of credit institutions is not very different from the one applicable in the generality of the contractual relationships in which any person is a party:
- To identify yourself at the beginning of the relationship and whenever the credit institution requires it to carry out transactions: The client must identify himself to the credit institution each time they are going to carry out a transaction. This duty of information includes, on occasions, allowing the credit institution to receive a copy of your identity document. This duty of the client acquires special importance today, since it is required that credit institutions know their client, their experience and expectations when interacting with them.
- To act in good faith in the development of the relationship: It is a general principle that requires the parties to adopt a correct and honest attitude in the development of a contractual relationship.
- To pay what they are obliged to and fulfil the obligations incurred in the contracts: The main obligation incurred by the client is to pay commissions and expenses for the services received from credit institutions. When you are also granted any kind of credit, on the agreed date you must repay the capital received and the interest generated by such capital.
- Other specific obligations stipulated in the contracts, such as informing the credit institution about the change in marital status or the financial situation, or, in the case of commercial companies, providing each year the annual accounts of the previous year.
