On 21st December 2017, the Banking, Insurance & Pension Fund Management Authority (SBS) published its draft regulatory program for deposit accounts, known as basic accounts, to help drive the country’s financial inclusion, seeking to bring the regulations applicable to basic accounts into line with those applied to simplified e-money accounts.

The draft sets out the conditions this product must meet. Only available in Peruvian currency, nationals and foreign residents can open these accounts from correspondent bank ATMs.

There will be an upper daily threshold on deposits of PEN 1,000.00 and a limit on each title holder’s consolidated balance, per financial institution, of PEN 2,000.00; in addition, accumulated monthly deposits and withdrawals per deposit holder from a single financial institution may not exceed PEN 4,000.00. Attempted transactions that breach these limits will not be accepted, and financial institutions will inform users of non-acceptance.

Basic accounts do not require a minimum opening deposit or a minimum monthly balance, and may only be used for domestic transactions.

Furthermore, market conduct regulated for basic accounts is subject to equivalent regulations, among them those referring to inclusion in the simplified system set up in the Market Conduct Management Regulation. Users may also use channels that financial institutions must make available to them to lodge claims.

The regulation also requires companies in the financial system to implement training programs for their customer-facing staff about areas relating to basic accounts. These include: what they offer and how they work, the procedure for opening or closing them, and customer service procedures; as well as the mandatory  information to users about costs, conditions and product characteristics before and during the signing of the contract, together with the minimum content of that contract.

Finally, the draft indicates the AML and AFT issues that are germane to basic accounts, among others those referring to inclusion in the simplified KYC due-diligence system, as well as the identification and verification requirements for opening and closing basic accounts.