BSP Circular 1160: Regulations on Financial Consumer Protection (RA 11765 IRR)

Summary

BSP Circular No. 1160, Series of 2022 (Monetary Board Resolution No. 1683, 17 November 2022) amends Part Ten of the MORB/MORNBFI in its entirety to implement RA 11765 for BSP-supervised institutions (BSIs). It requires a free 24/7 reporting channel and an immediate written acknowledgement to any consumer who contacts it. For disputed or allegedly unauthorized transactions, the originating institution must — pending its investigation — suspend the imposition of interest, fees or charges, hold the disputed funds if intact, and provide reasonable accommodations such as a non-withdrawable provisional credit. Within three (3) banking days of the investigation concluding, it must formally inform the client of the result; where the transaction is found unauthorized or fraudulent it must immediately reverse it including related interest, charges and fees. The Circular sets NO fixed deadline for resolving a complaint: fraud concerns are to be resolved 'within a reasonable time commensurate to the complexity of the circumstances'. The only '15 banking days' in the Circular is the maximum cooling-off period, which is a different subject entirely.