The notice about joint bank accounts that the Bank of Spain has warned about

The Bank of Spain launches a notice to citizens about joint bank accounts. Using this type of bank account is an option widely used by couples or families looking to save and control expenses. It is a very common practice that makes it possible for any of the members of the same account to access the content of the payroll and monitor the movements.

The problem appears when one of the account holders performs an action without the consent of the other person. If the account holders have some kind of dispute and one of the two uses or withdraws the money from the account without the authorization or knowledge of the other, problems can begin.

Another example may be that one of the two spends more than what is in the account, making an overdraft. This means that the existing money in an account is not enough to face a payment and therefore a debt is generated in the joint account, since it is the bank that advances the necessary amount.

What happens if one of the holders causes an overdraft

The Bank of Spain has alerted citizens of what can happen if one of the holders of a joint bank account causes an overdraft. The entity warns that the other owner of the payroll has few options to solve the problem. The Bank of Spain warns that in this type of situation, it is best to “generally approach the courts of Justice”, since on many occasions the bank does not have enough information to position itself and resolve the dispute.

There are also cases in which it is considered that the entity does not apply good banking practices, such as if it authorizes an overdraft that has been requested for receipts of a loan or a credit card, provided that certain assumptions are made, such as that the card o the loan belongs to only one of the account holders; that the other person in charge does not know the direct debits of the payments or that the account contract simply does not cover this type of overdraft.

If a bank accepts an overdraft under these conditions, it immediately makes the other account holder responsible for paying the debt, making it a guarantor. For this reason, the Bank of Spain explains that it is not good practice for the entity to claim the money owed to the co-owner who has not requested payment.