Davivienda must repay $451,000 to 200 customers and pay a fine of $453,000 after having charged fees for advance payments on credits.
From a statement issued by the Consumer Protection Authority:
The Consumer Protection Authority wishes to inform citizens that, after at the culmination of a due process, the sentencing court has issued a resolution determining that the bank Davivienda must reimburse 203 consumers the sum of $451,357.78, and pay a fine of $453,099.60, due to violations of the Consumer Protection Act, upon collection of fees or charges for advance payments on credit.
The penalty is for charging surcharges for inactivity on receivable accounts with balances below $25, with the bank ordered to return the more than $429,000 charged for that concept.
The penalty is the result of a complaint filed by the Consumer Protection Body with the sentencing court on December 19, 2006, against the Salvadoran Bank SA (now Banco Davivienda) "...
While Central American businesses assume the costs of the bureaucracy associated with money laundering controls, big banks are granted a license to steal.
EDITORIAL
The United States has lost the moral authority in the fight against drug trafficking, and countries who suffer in the drug war, should taken that into account.
The Consumer Advocate will publish a list of recipients of bank refunds next week.
HSBC Bank had charged interest to users who made their loan payments in advance. In the face of this situation, the Office of the Public Defender sanctioned the bank with the sum of $900 thousand, $451,357.78 of which will be returned to 202 users, and the rest must be paid as a fine.