Fingerprint Legal To
Withdraw Funds From Bank
Account
The Sala Constitucional
(Constitutional Court)
ruled that customers of
banks should be able to
withdraw their funds at
any time, even if they
are unable to sign the
withdrawl slip.
The court decision is
based on the filing of a
Recurso de Amparo (writ
of habeas corpus) by a
client of the Banco de
Costa Rica (BCR), after
being denied to withdraw
funds from her account,
for not being able to
sign the withdrawl slip.
The bank customer, who
is 77 years old, told
the court that she could
not physically sign the
withdrawl slip and was
refused by the bank to
allow her to use her
fingerprint as a measure
of identification.
The BCR customer
identified by her last
name, Pacheco, said that
because of her age she
was unable to sign the
document when she
visited the Mall
Internacional branch of
the BCR in Alajuela, as
clearly stated on her
Cedula.
The woman said that she
had already visited a
BCR office in San José
where she registered her
fingerprint, only to be
told by the Alajuela
branch that the measure
was not acceptable, even
though fingerprints are
an alternative method of
identification by the
state bank. The woman
further alleged in her
writ that she was not
given the reason for the
denial in writing.
The court order was
issued against Oscar
Mario Alvarado Araya,
the manager of the Mall
Internacional BCR branch
and severak other BCR
executives and the BCR
legal department.
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