PERU

On December 30, the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi, for its acronym in Spanish), published its “Guidelines on Consumer Protection”, a roadmap of the principles of predictability and legal certainty underpinning the resolutions already in force in this area. The guidelines refer to credit cards as “active products”.

The document states that financial institutions must check the identity of the persons they hire to determine whether there are any inconsistencies or contradictions indicating fraudulent conduct. Likewise, if an entity outsources credit cards contracting, it continues to be liable for any improper acts carried out by this third party in the framework of the client contract.

Companies operating with credit cards are also responsible for setting up a security system, and suitable mechanisms guaranteeing users the opportunity to immediately communicate the theft or loss of their card, so it can be blocked as soon as possible, preventing any improper use.

The document also points out that, in the event of links between credit and debit cards, the user must be informed beforehand when contracting both services as they must authorize this option before contracting the service.