Guatemala: credit card controls

Guatemala is getting closer to a system that regulates the operations of credit cards, with two proposals currently in Congress.

The main goal of legislators is to find a balance between the rights and obligations of issuers and cardholders.

The current system does not deal effectively with the problem of unilateral changes in conditions that apply to a credit card, including interest rates and maturity.

In addition, a cardholder often faces high costs in case of an error or fraud charged to his or her account.

Another relevant issue for purposes of the new rules is how to deal with different types of issuers.

Credit cards issued by any of 14 banks are under the authority of the Bank Supervisor.

At the same time, two non-bank financial institutions issue credit cards, without supervision.

Credit cards are currently subject to a regulatory system, which consists of a single article of the Commercial Code, drafted in 1971.

For more information, please contact [email protected] or (502) 2324-3939 o 2279-3939.