Blocked Accounts and Unrecovered Fraud Losses Dominate Bank Complaints to DECO: Why Portuguese Banks Freeze Accounts, and the Rules on Closing One

Nearly half of the complaints about banks on Reclamar, the complaints platform run by the consumer association DECO Proteste, concern accounts that were blocked or closed and fraud losses customers could not recover: 48.7 percent, according to a DECO analysis reported by Jornal de Negócios. Slow replies, or none at all, from banks also feature. The paper does not say how many complaints DECO analysed.

What the Bank of Portugal's own figures show

The Banco de Portugal (Bank of Portugal) received 33,375 complaints in 2025, according to its latest Relatório de Supervisão Comportamental (Behavioural Supervision Report), and 22,795 of them fell within its remit. Bank deposits were the most complained-about product, with 7,192. Complaints about blocked accounts rose 54.9 percent, from 506 to 784, the biggest increase of any topic, and the report says most cases came from account holders who had not updated their details despite their bank's requests. Complaints about payments linked to fraud reached 2,577, up 45 percent. Irregularities were found in 6.3 percent of closed complaints.

Why a bank blocks an account

Article 40 of Lei n.º 83/2017, the anti-money-laundering law, obliges banks to keep each customer's identification and supporting documents current. How often depends on the customer's risk rating, but never less often than every five years for low-risk clients, and immediately when the bank doubts the data. The Bank of Portugal's Aviso n.º 1/2022 adds a trigger that matters to many immigrants: the expiry of a customer's identification documents requires an immediate update (Article 45). For a foreign resident, that can mean a bank asking for the renewed residence card.

When the update cannot be completed, Article 50 of the law tells the bank to refuse operations and, where the risk "cannot be managed in any other way", to end the relationship. A bank acting in good faith carries no liability for doing so.

Notice, and the minimum account

For an ordinary termination, the payment services regime approved by Decreto-Lei n.º 91/2018 lets a bank end an open-ended account contract only if the contract provides for it, and with at least two months' notice (Article 94).

Anyone with the right to reside in an EU member state, including asylum seekers and people with no fixed address, can open a serviços mínimos bancários (minimum banking services) account under Decreto-Lei n.º 27-C/2000. The bank must open it or refuse within 10 working days, annual charges are capped at 1 percent of the IAS (social support index), and a customer notified that an existing account will be closed may apply even while holding it. The bank may end such an account only on grounds the law lists, one being that the holder is no longer a legal resident in the EU, and must explain its reasons in writing.

How to complain

Complain to the bank in writing first and keep copies. The electronic Livro de Reclamações (complaints book), which DECO says has replaced the Bank of Portugal's own online form, sends the complaint to the supervisor too, and a circular issued in May gives banks 15 working days to answer any complaint, ECO reported. For fraud, contact the bank at once through its official channels, block cards and report it to the police. A bank that skips the payee name check on a transfer can owe you a refund, and the Bank of Portugal has warned about fake bank cards sent by post.