During the first semester of 2018, the Office of the Financial Consumer (OCF) dealt with 978 cases, among complaints and consumer consultations related to banks, cooperatives, financial, lenders, mutual and others.
The issues with higher statistics are related to late payment, credit record, telephone harassment, payment arrangements, and fraud, among others.
This represents an increase of more than 200% compared to the first semester of 2017. According to Willy Carvajal, Director of the OCF:
In a comparative way, throughout 2017, 1018 cases were resolved; we got to the almost the same number in the first six months of this year, which reflects the importance this mechanism has for financial consumers and the need to promote their rights.”
As a relevant data, 74% of the completed cases were resolved in favor of consumers. On average, the Consumer Financial Office takes between five to 10 business days to resolve most conflicts.
In general, most of the problems of consumers are related to an incorrect use of credit instruments, which demonstrates once again the need to strengthen education and financial inclusion. Also, some practices that are not consistent with the rights of consumers have been detected,”
said Carvajal.
As important tips, the Financial Consumer Office recommends people to get adviced before signing a loan contract or taking a credit card.
The law 7472 of “Consumer Protection” emphasizes that the financial institution must always provide consumers with relevant information before they make their decision about acquiring the credit or not, and as usual, flash decisions do not end in good results.
An incorrect decision can lead the consumer to face collection processes, loss of assets and salaries, and a negative credit record, which has important consequences in the private and family environment, as well as medium and long-term repercussions registered in the different databases of the country.
All the services of the Office are free and consumers can seek advice with us before signing a contract, for example, we advise the consumer on what kind of information should be requested from the financial institution,”
highlighted Mr. Solano.
As reported by the OCF, they are currently completing a project to launch of an online financial education course, which will be composed of 14 modules and will be for the entire population, which includes credits, savings, cards, insurance, pensions, and many other topics.