Stephanie Portuguez, legal counsel of the Defensoria, said that the document that, apparently, Marisol signed, says among other things: “I authorize to automatically debit my account number … in currency … until a maximum date of …. and for a maximum amount of …. Signature and ID of the holder.”
Portuguez stresses that this document has several alleged irregularities, such as dates and amounts are blank and the signature is not authenticated.
“The amount was debited from the account by the bank to transfer it to another financial entity that is not properly regulated by the SUGEF. It seems to me that fundamental rights are being violated. In order for me to execute something like that against me, I must be notified and thus exercise my right of defense and assume due process,” said the lawyer.
“I do not remember whether or not I signed that document (the authorization),” said Marisol.
But, more important to this story is the law that prohibits the touching of the Aguinaldo, in this case for a loan, and the bank, in this case, a quasi-state bank, allowing the transfer.
How many others are or will be left without their aguinaldo? And what can one do about it?
The Defensoria has issued an alert to people who have loans in arrears to this situation and advises to send to the banks (where the aguinaldo is received) documents that disallow this type of reduction.
Portuguez warns that there are many people in danger of losing their aguinaldo. She also warns of automatic payment for loans, store, credit card and bank credit, among others.
“If I disavow and you touch money from my account it is a crime, it is a fraudulent administration. We should all disallow all kinds of deductions in our accounts,” said Portuguez.
In Marisol’s case, the Defensoria filed a precautionary measure against the bank so that they do not continue executing reductions, such as in the next payday, of their client.
You can contact the Oficina de Apoyo al Deudor by WhatsApp 7088-2110 and landline 2248-0544. The appointment costs ¢20.000.
The La Teja says it contacted Beto and the Banco Popular and received the following responses:
“Beto is a serious company that at all times has acted under the framework of the legality and the loan contract that governs the relationship with its clients, which in some high-risk cases includes their signed authorization to debit outstanding accounts from their accounts. To date, we have not been notified of any precautionary measures brought by the Debtor Support Office related to this case.”
The Banco Popular, meanwhile, indicated that they have not been notified of the precautionary measure, but are analyzing the case, determining that the reduction was made by way of a “real-time debit transaction”, which passes through the Central Bank’s SINPE platform.
This service, as indicated, consists of a rebate order from one entity to another and what the Popular does, in this case, is to check that the information provided by Beto is correct and that there is an automatic debit authorization.
“This was precisely what happened in this specific case, where Banco Popular, as a destination entity, reviews the existence of the relevant authorizations to allow debit and applies it according to the regulations,” the bank said in a statement.
The Banco Popular also recommended that their client contact Beto to review the authorization terms.
Good advice not only for Banco Popular clients but for everyone who has a loan (in arrears or not) and automatic bank payments to not wait until the aguinaldo (or pay) is deposited, especially in this time of year, to be left with an empty account.
