At some point during the month of January, customers will receive a letter from their bank containing important financial information.
“The banks are obliged to send these letters and they should not be ignored,” the notice from the Bank of Spain warned.
Here’s what is included in the letter and how it could affect you:
The letter will include an annual summary of your account, along with all your contracted services and their conditions.
You will receive “two documents: one with the information of the contracted banking services and another with the information of your accounts”, the Bank of Spain explained.
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According to the law EHA/2899/2011: “credit institutions will send their clients, annually, during the month of January of each year, a letter which details information on accrued commissions, expenses and the interest rates applied to the client during the previous year”.
These documents should be sent individually to each client, even if you have a joint account.
Bank account summary
Your bank is obliged to provide you with a summary of the status of your commissions.
This statement will include all the commissions that have been applied during the previous calendar year for the associated services you have contracted, with all the total amounts.
It will also inform you of the credit and overdraft interest rates applied to your account and the total amount of interest it earned that year.
If you have a joint account, it will also detail information on the total number of co-owners, each of whom will have received their own letter.
Contracted services
The second document will include all the services you have contracted with your bank, such as the types of accounts you have with them, any credit cards, insurance etc.
You will not only be reminded of the services you have but also the terms and conditions of each, so you know what you should be paying out each month in 2023, in terms of any fees or expenses.
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You should receive these documents via the post, but if you have requested not to receive physical letters or you have not received one anyway, the Banco de España recommends checking “the inbox on your institution’s website or app to access your annual summary”.