Federal Law on Consumer Credit

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Basic data
Title: Federal Law on
Consumer Credit
Short title: Consumer Credit Act
Abbreviation: KKG
Type: Federal law
Scope: Switzerland
Legal matter: Code of Obligations
Systematic
legal collection (SR) :		 221.214.1
Original version from: March 23, 2001
Entry into force on: January 1, 2003
Last change by: AS 2015 4111 (PDF; 106 kB)
Effective date of the
last change:		 January 1, 2016
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The Federal Law on Consumer Credit ( Consumer Credit Law for short , KKG ) is a federal law applicable in Switzerland to increase the protection of borrowers against over-indebtedness . The revised law came into force on January 1, 2003. The Consumer Credit Act covers consumer credits and leasing contracts to natural persons who do not serve any professional or commercial purpose, credit and customer cards, and overdrafts.

The Ordinance on Consumer Credit (VKKG), issued by the Federal Council (SR 221.214.11), regulates some special implementation provisions, including the current maximum interest rate of (as of March 2010) currently 15% per year.

Loan types

The Consumer Credit Act applies to the following types of loans and installment agreements:

  • Overdrafts on current account and
  • Overdrafts that the bank tacitly accepts.
  • Credit and customer card with credit option
  • Loans (in particular financing and installment loans), deferred payments and similar financial aids
  • certain leases

Exceptions

In particular, an overdraft does not fall under the Consumer Credit Act if it

  • is covered by mortgage
  • is covered by customary bank collateral
  • is covered by sufficient assets that the borrower holds with the lender
  • is less than CHF 500 or more than CHF 80,000
  • must be repaid within 3 months

Furthermore, the law only applies if the borrower is a natural person and wishes to take out the loan for private purposes.

Content of the contract

A consumer credit agreement is subject to very strict formal requirements . In any case, it must be drawn up in writing and, in addition to the net amount of the loan, list the so-called effective annual interest rate , which is the total costs for the borrower, including any expenses or other fees. The planned repayment period with the respective installments must also be specified. The contract must also contain a passage that allows the borrower to repay the entire amount in full at any time - with a reduction in interest - and the possibility of revocation must also be mentioned in the contract.

A special form of the consumer credit contract is the leasing contract , which is also dealt with in the law, but is consistently viewed as a special case. The rules for the content also differ from the normal loan agreement. B. an immediate repayment is not possible at any time, but on the contrary, if the borrower withdraws from the contract, the borrower owes the lender money for this withdrawal.

Creditworthiness check

According to Art. 28 of the Federal Law on Consumer Credit, the creditworthiness test of the consumer is mandatory. A consumer is considered creditworthy if the monthly loan installment does not exceed the attachable part of the income. A repayment of a maximum of 36 months is assumed. The maximum amount of consumer credit is determined by law, for which the attachable part of the income is multiplied by 36.

Summary creditworthiness check

In contrast to the detailed creditworthiness check for loans (bank loans), the lender only has to carry out a so-called summary creditworthiness check for overdrafts. This is based on the information provided by the borrower about his income and financial situation as well as a query by the lender of the loans registered with the consumer credit information center (IKO).

However, if the lender fails to do the creditworthiness check carefully enough and if he grants the loan despite the corresponding deficiencies, the debtor is automatically waived the entire interest including expenses. If the debt of the lender is serious, he must also write off the loan amount himself. This clause is intended to curb the “squandering” of credit.

Right of withdrawal of the borrower

The borrower can revoke an overdraft in writing within 14 days of receiving the copy of the contract intended for him. The borrower has no right of withdrawal in the case of tacitly accepted account overdrafts.

Maximum interest rate

The highest allowable APR on consumer loans was 15% until July 1, 2016, but was then reduced to 10%.

Reporting requirement

The law stipulates that the lender must notify the information center of the consumer credit granted or the lease that has been concluded. In the case of credit and customer card accounts, this reporting requirement only applies to an outstanding amount of CHF 3,000.

Loan brokerage

According to Art. 39 of the Consumer Credit Act in Switzerland, commercial credit brokering requires a license, which is issued by the canton in which the credit broker is based. Credit intermediaries are prohibited from charging the consumers agency or processing fees.

Federal Act against Unfair Competition (UWG)

In addition to the KKG, Article 3k-n of the Federal Act against Unfair Competition also apply to consumer loans , in particular Article 3n, which stipulates that lending is prohibited if it leads to over-indebtedness of the consumer.

See also

literature

  • Cornelia Stengel: Scope of the Consumer Credit Act - credit and leasing, credit and customer cards and overdrafts for consumers . Schulthess, Zurich / Basel / Geneva 2014, ISBN 978-3-7255-7014-0 .
  • Hans Giger: The consumer credit . In: Bern commentary . Commentary on Swiss private law . Volume VI: The Code of Obligations , 2nd section: The individual contractual relationships , 1st part, 1st sub-volume. Stämpfli, Bern 2007, ISBN 978-3-7272-3444-6 .
  • Markus Hess, Robert Simmen (ed.): The new consumer credit law (KKG) . Schulthess, Zurich 2002, ISBN 3-7255-4451-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Federal Law on Consumer Credit (KKG) of March 23, 2001 (as of July 13, 2017)
  2. ↑ Ordinance on the Consumer Credit Act (VKKG) of November 6, 2002 (as of July 1, 2016)
  3. ↑ Federal Council lowers maximum interest rate for consumer loans (media release of December 11, 2015)
  4. ↑ Federal Law on Consumer Credit (KKG) of March 23, 2001 (as of July 13, 2017)
  5. ↑ Swiss Federal Law: Serious credit intermediaries do not charge any fees. Retrieved July 2, 2020 .