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Banking

Banking services, regulations, and financial products in Portugal.

The ornate Banco de Portugal building floodlit at night, its neoclassical stone facade, pediment and rooftop statues glowing against a dark sky

An Outside Firm Will Comb Through Eleven Years of Bank of Portugal IT Contracts After Police Searches

The Bank of Portugal has hired Eternamix Consulting to audit more than 1,000 IT contracts signed over the past 11 years, for €108,000 plus VAT and a three-month deadline. The review follows last year's Judicial Police searches into the central bank's technology contracting.

The Portugal Brief 09 Jul 2026

A person using an MB Multibanco ATM on a street in Lisbon, Portugal

The Bank of Portugal Wants Every Shop to Take at Least One Form of Card or Digital Payment

The central bank wants to oblige every business to accept at least one digital payment method alongside cash, as part of its 2025 retail-payments strategy.

The Portugal Brief 08 Jul 2026

Sunlit terracotta rooftops of Lisbon's Alfama district with the Monastery of Sao Vicente de Fora in the background

Bank of Portugal Lowers the Maximum Household Debt-Service Ratio to 45% and Trims Banks' Room for Exceptions From August 1

The Bank of Portugal's new Macroprudential Recommendation cuts the maximum debt-service-to-income ratio (taxa de esforço) from 50% to 45% for mortgage and consumer credit, and trims banks' exception margin from 15% to 10%. It applies to loans assessed from 1 August and may later become binding law.

The Portugal Brief 04 Jul 2026

Euro banknotes spilling from an envelope, illustrating new consumer-credit fee rules in Portugal

Portugal Scraps Loan-Processing Fees on Pre-2021 Mortgages and Makes Tied Products Optional From 28 June

A long-phased Portuguese banking law reaches its final stage on 28 June 2026, ending the monthly processing fee on credit contracts signed up to the end of 2020 and barring banks from tying insurance or other products to a loan renegotiation.

The Portugal Brief 28 Jun 2026

Finance Minister Rejects an Expert Panel's Proposal to Merge Portugal's Three Financial Supervisors

Finance Minister Rejects an Expert Panel's Proposal to Merge Portugal's Three Financial Supervisors

A government-appointed panel proposed folding the Bank of Portugal, the CMVM and the insurance regulator into a single supervisor. Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento turned it down within two days.

The Portugal Brief 27 Jun 2026

A fan of euro banknotes spilling from a white envelope on a wooden table

Getting Your NIF and Opening a Portuguese Bank Account in 2026 — A Practical Guide to the Tax Number, Fiscal Representation, and the Documents Banks Actually Ask For

Almost nothing in Portugal happens without a NIF and a bank account. This guide explains how to get your tax number, when non-EU arrivals still need a fiscal representative, the resident-versus-non-resident distinction, and which documents banks ask for in 2026.

The Portugal Brief 27 Jun 2026

Aerial view of Lisbon's rooftops with the Tagus estuary and a cargo ship beyond

Bank of Portugal's Resolution Fund Books a €630 Million Reserve for Possible BES Compensation Claims

The Fundo de Resolucao, which financed the 2014 rescue of Banco Espirito Santo, has set aside €630 million in its 2025 accounts against the chance it must one day compensate BES creditors under the 'no creditor worse off' principle.

The Portugal Brief 26 Jun 2026

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