To pay for services from January, clients will need to have a bank card

From January 1, 2024, customers will be required to have a bank card to pay for services through digital channels of banks, according to messages sent by banks to their customers.

In messages accessed by Lusa, banks say that by decision of the regulator, from January 1, customers will need to have a bank card linked to their account in order to be able to carry out transactions such as payment for services and payments to the government. or replenishing mobile phones even through digital channels (“home banking”).

Most customers have a bank card, but they can give it up while still being able to conduct transactions (particularly through digital channels). It often happens that the same client has two bank accounts and neither of them has a bank card.

However, starting in January, in order to perform Multibanco transactions, such as payment for services (for example, these are not transactions such as transfers), you will always need to have a card (debit or credit) linked to the account.

In general, having a card means that the client pays a commission to the bank. A debit card costs on average about 20 euros per year.

This decision was taken by SIBS (manager of Multibanco), which, as explained, changed the terms of operations “in accordance with the development of European regulations and in accordance with the special decision of the Bank of Portugal in 2022 on SIBS FPS.”

According to SIBS, only in “very specific situations may it be necessary to link a new card, real or virtual, depending on the offering of the payment service provider/financial institution.”

SIBS is owned by most of the largest banks operating in Portugal, whose main shareholders are BCP, Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Santander Totta and BPI.

Lusa contacted Banco de Portugal but has not yet received further information.