Protection of Financial Services Users: the BCRA Extends the Obligation to Payment Service Providers, Establishes Financial Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities

On September 1, 2022, the Argentine Central Bank (BCRA) issued Communique "A" 7593, which established new subjects bound to comply with the regulations on Protection of Financial Services Users.

 

The Communique was adopted after the BCRA extended the application of this legal framework to non-financial credit providers through Communique "A" 7146, issued in October 2020. As a result, lending fintech companies had to undergo an implementation process to comply with the BCRA's consumer rules. Almost two years after the publication of this communique, the BCRA has resumed this policy by incorporating as subjects under obligation fintech companies of the digital payments vertical –more precisely, PSPs– offering payment accounts (PSPCP), and those performing the initiation function (PSI) and providing a digital wallet service.

 

Likewise, the BCRA established that these entities must comply with the provisions on financial inclusion for people with disabilities, stated in Communication "A" 7517, issued in May 2022, which only involved financial institutions.

 

Therefore, from now on, PSPCPs and PSIs must:

 

• Provide a text-to-speech reader in their apps,

 

• Add a descriptive text-to-speech reader in communications, notices, and/or advertisements containing images made by them (either by themselves or through third parties),

 

• Comply with the Web 2.0 Content Accessibility Guidelines stated by the National Office of Information Technologies (ONTI), and

 

• Train customer service personnel in disability perspective and in Argentine Sign Language (ASL).

 

The BCRA set a term of 180 calendar days to complete the implementations established in the Communique.

 

In addition, the BCRA incorporated a principle of functional scope and framework, so that each subject under obligation complies with the rules on Protection of Financial Services Users “according to the types and functionalities of its particular operations and transaction modalities, and to the relationships and contracts entered into with the users of financial services".

 

The BCRA clarifies as well that these rules supplement national laws –and, if applicable, local laws– on consumer relations.

 

Finally, the BCRA established that PSPCPs and PSIs providing a digital wallet service must submit annually (following a model to be established) a special external audit report certifying compliance with the applicable regulations according to the type of PSP, as non-financial credit providers already do.