What information must your bank give you on your bank account?
12/01/2021
As a bank customer, you are entitled to receive the information set out below, regularly and free of charge. But your bank can charge you if you wish to receive any other information on your account or information for a specific period.
Your bank should send you:
- Every January, a notice including the details of all charges applied and the interest rates on each banking service provided during the previous year.
- At least once a month, a bank statement reflecting all your account activity. The statement must include, at least, the amount of the transactions, the exchange rate applied to credits or debits, where appropriate, and the previous and current account balance. This notice is not obligatory if there has been no account activity in the month.
- A settlement document informing you of the interest rate and charges applied in each of the services provided.
Your bank must also provide you, upon request at any time and free of charge, with a copy of your account contract. What if you need a copy of the account contract after you have closed the account? Is the bank obliged to keep the contract?
As a general rule, banks must keep account contracts for at least six years. This is the minimum period envisaged in the Spanish Commercial Code for keeping documentation.
How should your bank provide this documentation?
Your bank should provide you with the documentation on your account as established in your account contract, whether on paper or in any other durable format. Check how your bank is required to provide this information and that you receive it regularly.
What kind of documentation can the bank charge me for?
If you ask your bank for information other than that envisaged in the regulations, for more frequent information, or for information in a different format from that established in your account contract, your bank may apply a charge, which must be reasonable and in keeping with the cost incurred. It may, for example, charge you for duplicate copies of bank statements, settlement documents or additional information.
Information on these charges must be available in the bank branch and on the bank’s website.
Where do I go to request information on my account?
You should ask for information or documentation at your bank branch. Only if the branch fails to give you what you need should you go to the bank’s customer service department.
