Building Credit in Brazil: Cadastro Positivo, Registrato and Your First Card

Definition of Cadastro Positivo (utilities/telecoms, credit from BCB-authorized institutions, installment sales); inclusion without authorization; cancellation at any time.

Each bureau builds its score from stored payment information and has autonomy to create its own scoring methodology; score shareable without authorization; detailed history shareable only with prior specific authorization.

Bureaus recording information from financial institutions must be registered with the BCB; list on 'Encontre uma instituição' under gestor de banco de dados.

Bureau must notify opening of the record free of charge within 30 days unless already registered elsewhere.

Right to free access to all information, history and score; response times.

Suspension of lenders' access to the score within 2 business days, passed on to other bureaus.

Free cancellation within 2 business days; information can't then be used for history or score.

Correction within 10 days at the bureau or 2 business days at the source.

Where to go when a bureau doesn't cooperate: Procon, Ministério Público, Defensoria Pública, consumer police units, courts.

Negative register holds default data; SPC and Serasa manage it; not regulated by the BCB.

Art. 43, §§ 1º-3º: negative information no longer than five years; written notice when a record is opened without request; immediate correction and notice to recipients within five business days. Art. 54-D, II: responsible credit assessment using credit bureau information.

Registrato is free and shows loans, bank accounts, Pix keys, bounced cheques and FX operations.

SCR report shows debts and commitments, balance, type, current or overdue, and credit limits including card and overdraft.

SCR report lists debts above R$200.

Installments more than 14 days late are classified as overdue (vencida); access via gov.br silver/gold with two-step verification.

Registrato requires a gov.br silver or gold account with two-step verification.

Card issuers must identify the customer and know their risk profile and financial capacity (e.g. income and address proofs); cards can't be contracted by voice phone.

Art. 10: limits compatible with risk profile, financial capacity, vulnerabilities and other credit, reviewed periodically; increases need consent; reduction on request.

Limit increases need the holder's prior approval each time; the holder can request a reduction at any time, done within 2 business days.

Example of an investment-backed limit: Tesouro Direto or Caixinhas pledged and blocked; limit can fall if the investment loses market value; after more than 7 days late Nubank may use the investment to pay the bill, including IOF and IR, but not if the minimum was paid or the bill was put into installments (sections 2-4).

Official name of the Sistema de Informações de Crédito do Banco Central (SCR).