How to read the credit liabilities statement

What it is and who consults it

The credit liabilities statement (mapa de responsabilidades de crédito) is a document issued by Banco de Portugal that brings together the information credit institutions report about their customers to the Central Credit Register (Central de Responsabilidades de Crédito). On a single page, it shows the loans you have or have had with the reporting institutions.

Banks consult this information when assessing a credit application. It is therefore a good idea to check your own statement first, so you arrive at the meeting without any surprises. You can request it through the Bank Customer Portal (Portal do Cliente Bancário), usually by signing in with your Tax and Customs Authority (Finanças) credentials.

What appears on the statement

In general, it shows the loans in which you are a borrower, as well as those in which you are a guarantor (for example, a surety or endorser) when this information is reported. Each liability is linked to an institution, a type of product (mortgage, consumer credit, credit card, overdraft and others) and an amount.

Only liabilities above a minimum amount set by Banco de Portugal are reported, so small debts or low-value products may not appear. The data depends on what the institutions report and when they report it, so it may not reflect a very recent transaction.

How to read the main columns

Pay attention to the outstanding amount: this is the principal still to be repaid, not the original loan amount. Check whether there is any indication of an overdue amount, i.e. instalments in arrears, as this is one of the points the bank pays most attention to. Also note the distinction between actual and potential liabilities: credit card limits and overdraft limits on salary accounts, even if unused, may be counted as potential liabilities.

Also check how many holders there are for each transaction. For a loan with several holders, the total liability may appear for each of them, and the bank will consider your share or the total, depending on its internal rules.

Errors and situations to correct

Check whether there are loans you have already repaid that still appear, cards you have cancelled that still show a limit, or transactions you do not recognise. If you find an error, you should first contact the institution that reported the information and ask for it to be corrected and, if necessary, Banco de Portugal, which has procedures for handling queries and complaints.

A card you hardly ever use but which has a high limit may reduce your borrowing capacity in the bank's eyes. If it makes sense for you, it may be helpful to reduce or cancel limits you do not need before applying for new credit.

When to request it and how to keep it

Request the statement shortly before you need to submit it, as the information changes and banks prefer recent documents. Keep the original PDF, unaltered. If you would rather not make the request yourself, Titus Docs can obtain the statement on your behalf, accessing Banco de Portugal by signing in with your Tax and Customs Authority (Finanças) credentials, with your express consent and without anyone other than the robot seeing your credentials.