Among the modifications to this law is the prohibition of charging interest on interest, that is to say, on commissions. In this case, the interest must only be applied to the capital that the client receives as a loan.

Another amendment is the prohibition of penalties for early payment of loans, which means that users of financial services may cancel in advance, on any date prior to the date established in the contract, the agreed monthly amount or more to pay more capital, without paying a penalty for this in the next payment.

Likewise, credit segments are established for the fixing of maximum interest rates, whether the creditor is supervised by the Superintendencia del Sistema Financiero (SSF) or not supervised by this entity.

"From the Financial Commission we are innovating the way of doing politics, we are teaching the politicians of the past how to legislate. With these reforms we are preparing the conditions for greater investment and economic growth", said Congresswoman Dania González, president of said working group.

They have determined four categories, among them, consumer credit for individuals with order of discount or charge to account, and without order of discount; in addition, loans granted through credit cards, housing credit and credit for companies.

The creditors supervised by the SSF are banks, savings and loan companies, cooperative banks and insurance companies, in this segment there are credits with discount order; those not supervised by the Superintendency are supervised by the Defensoría del Consumidor and among them are pawnshops, pawnbrokers, commercial houses and non-profit foundations that grant credits without discount order.

In addition, general provisions for administrative sanctions are indicated, including the seriousness of the infraction, the economic capacity of the offender and the duration of the collection of interest on interest.

The Defensoría del Consumidor and the SSF have also been empowered to apply sanctions for violations of the law, such as charging higher than legal rates, charging interest on interest, failing to register with the Banco Central de Reserva (BCR), which keeps a record of all supervised and non-supervised creditors, or providing erroneous, inaccurate or untimely information to said institution.

These violations of the law will be penalized with fines ranging from 300 to 1,000 minimum wages for supervised creditors, and from 100 to 500 for non-supervised creditors. Collective damages will be charged from 500 to 2,000 minimum wages.

For these reforms, the Financial Commission took into account contributions from the Banco Central de Reserva (BCR), SSF, Ministry of Finance, Comisión Nacional de la Micro y Pequeña Empresa (CONAMYPE), Defensoría del Consumidor and requests from the population sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Law Against Usury dates back to 2013, since then it has not undergone any adjustment to support the rights of consumers.