{"id":44777,"date":"2026-03-26T11:11:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T17:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/?p=44777"},"modified":"2026-03-31T17:26:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T23:26:36","slug":"costa-rica-approves-law-strengthening-user-protection-against-banking-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/costa-rica-approves-law-strengthening-user-protection-against-banking-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"Costa Rica approves law strengthening user protection against banking fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Costa Rica has approved the <strong>Law on the Protection of Consumers in the Custody of their Funds,<\/strong> which establishes new rules regarding the liability of financial institutions in cases involving the misappropriation of funds and electronic fraud in bank accounts.<\/p>\r\n<p>The law amends provisions of consumer protection legislation and Costa Rica\u2019s procedural framework to enhance the security of users within the financial system and to establish clearer mechanisms for resolving disputes related to unauthorized transactions.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\">Liability of financial institutions<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>One of the key changes is the expansion of the liability regime applicable to financial institutions that hold customer funds.<\/p>\r\n<p>Once the law enters into force, banking and financial entities, whether public or private, may be held liable for economic damages suffered by users when funds are withdrawn from their accounts without authorization, even if such acts are carried out by third parties.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>The law also establishes an express legal basis for users to claim restitution of misappropriated funds,<\/strong> an issue that previously created uncertainty in many electronic fraud cases.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h3><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\">In practice, this means that:<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>A customer may <strong>request the financial institution to reimburse the stolen funds.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t<li>If a satisfactory response is not obtained, the customer <strong>may pursue administrative or judicial remedies to seek compensation.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\">Reversal of the burden of proof in fraud cases<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>The law also introduces significant procedural changes. In cases involving electronic fraud or unauthorized withdrawal of funds, <strong>the burden of proof is reversed.<\/strong> This means that the financial institution must demonstrate that it complied with the required standards of security and due diligence to prevent the fraud.<\/p>\r\n<p>This change aims to balance the relationship between users of the financial system and the institutions that manage their funds, recognizing that the latter have greater access to technical information and transaction records.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\">Implications for the financial sector<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>The new regulation will have operational and compliance implications for entities operating within Costa Rica\u2019s financial system, including banks, cooperatives, and other institutions authorized to manage public funds.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h3><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\">Key considerations include:<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Reviewing and strengthening <strong>cybersecurity and fraud prevention protocols.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t<li>Implementing <strong>monitoring systems and early detection mechanisms for unusual transactions.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t<li>Updating<strong> internal procedures for handling and managing customer claims<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Assessing <strong>policies related to the handling and safeguarding of personal and financial data.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>Financial institutions will also need to properly document their controls and procedures, as such information may be critical in administrative or judicial proceedings.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\">Relevance for companies and financial system users<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>For companies and investors operating in Costa Rica, the new law strengthens the protection framework applicable to funds held in financial institutions and seeks to increase confidence in electronic payment systems and digital banking.<\/p>\r\n<p>At the same time, companies that manage frequent or high-volume financial transactions may benefit from greater safeguards in cases of unauthorized transactions.<\/p>\r\n<p>However, businesses will also need to strengthen their internal controls and digital security protocols to mitigate fraud risks and facilitate the handling of potential claims.<\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\"><strong>More information:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p>GarciaBodan Costa Rica<\/p>\r\n<p><a href=\"mailto:sanjose@garciabodan.com\"><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\"><strong>sanjose@garciabodan.com<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"color: #2263aa;\"><strong>T: +506 4001 6878<\/strong><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Costa Rica has approved the Law on the Protection of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[229],"tags":[288,341],"class_list":["post-44777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-costa-rica","tag-law-the-protection"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44777"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44812,"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44777\/revisions\/44812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garciabodan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}