SIC imposes a fine on BANCUPO for usury and insufficient information on loans offered to consumers

After conducting the corresponding administrative sanctioning investigation, the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC) of Colombia imposed a fine of COP $232,000,000 on the technology-associated financial services company, COMPAÑÍA FINTECH DE COLOMBIA S.A.S, better known as BANCUPO, for i) charging consumers with interest rates that exceeded the legal limits, ii) for not informing consumers about the moratorium interest rate, ii) the maximum legal rate in force at the date of conclusion of the contract, expressed as an effective annual rate, and iii) for not informing the borrower about the right to make early payments without being required to pay unpaid interest or financial penalties, thus disregarding the provisions of the Consumer Protection Statute (Law 1480 of 2011) and the Regulatory Decree 1074 of 2015.

In order to restore the rights of consumers, the SIC ordered the BANCUPO to:

1. RETURN the interest charged in excess to consumers with whom it entered into credit contracts from 12 August 2020 and until the date of enforcement of the resolution, taking as a reference the maximum legal interest.
2. INFORM consumers about the order issued by the SIC through their websites, social media accounts and at its customer service facilities.
3. INCLUDE clearly and precisely in the documents that support the credit offered the interest rate to be charged, expressed as an effective annual interest rate, the moratorium interest rate, the maximum legal interest rate in force at the time of the conclusion of the contract and information on the debtor's right to make advance payments, without in any case being able to demand unpaid interests or financial penalties.
4. ORGANISE and IMPLEMENT training sessions for its employees to ensure that consumers are fully aware of the general rules applicable to the conclusion of contracts through financing systems provided for in the Consumer Protection Statute (Law 1480 of 2011) and the Regulatory Decree 1074 of 2015.

The administrative act admits an application for reconsideration before the Directorate of Investigations for Consumer Protection and, alternatively, by means of an appeal to the Deputy Superintendence for Consumer Protection.

Read more about it (in Spanish) here.