Federation warns about the consequences of "virtual queues" in Caixa's app.

The National Federation of Associations of Caixa Econômica Federal Employees (Fenae) warns of the consequences of "virtual queues" and inconsistencies registered in the Caixa TEM app. In recent days, there has been an increase in reports from app users about difficulties in accessing emergency aid and FGTS funds. Besides preventing beneficiaries from using the money—in most cases, for the purchase of essential items and the payment of bills—the interruptions in the app end up driving people to bank branches, increasing exposure and the risk of coronavirus contagion for both the general public and bank employees.

Intermittent issues with the Caixa TEM app are hindering access to digital account data, as well as making payments and transfers. "In addition to the inconvenience for Brazilians who need these emergency benefits to survive, another problem arises: the need to travel to bank branches, putting the health of people and bank employees at high risk, at the height of the pandemic in various parts of the country," emphasizes the president of Fenae, Sérgio Takemoto.

In Salvador (BA), for example, Caixa bank branches have once again seen long lines and crowds this week. Beneficiaries report that they went to the bank branches after being unable to access or obtain information through the app.

On social media, beneficiaries report hours of "inconsistencies" and "queues" on the Caixa TEM app. The bank confirmed that "system outages may occur during peak times." According to Caixa's management, more than 500 simultaneous accesses to the app have been recorded.

This Wednesday (14), in an interview with the newspaper Diário de Pernambuco, the bank's president, Pedro Guimarães, admitted "intermittent issues in the system" since last week. He attributed the problem to the start of the Emergency FGTS payment.

According to Guimarães, the use of the app "is much higher than imagined," with an initial capacity of one million users, which, according to him, has already reached 122 million (considering payments of emergency aid and FGTS, in addition to other social benefits paid by the bank through the app).

As noted by the president of Fenae, the government decided to stagger both withdrawals and payments of benefits through the Caixa TEM app, arguing that the measure would avoid the queues and crowds seen at bank branches in different parts of the country. "But people have started to face new difficulties in accessing resources that are essential for their survival," Takemoto points out.

A survey conducted by the government itself revealed that the R$ 600 aid represents more than 93% of the income of the poorest households. The study was released by the Secretariat of Economic Policy (SPE) of the Ministry of Economy last week, based on data from the National Household Sample Survey Covid-19 (Pnad-Covid-19) of the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).

FAILURES IN INFORMATION ABOUT EMERGENCY FGTS (Severance Indemnity Fund) — This week, another problem was reported by users of the application. The bank should have deposited the emergency FGTS (up to R$ 1.045 per worker) into the digital savings accounts of those born in January, February, and March. However, beneficiaries were informed that the payment would be deposited "on another date".

According to information provided to the press by Caixa, "the credit has been rescheduled for the following calendar, conditional on the completion of data in the FGTS app." However, when announcing the rules of the Emergency Guarantee Fund, the bank did not instruct beneficiaries to "complete their registrations." Both the opening of the digital savings account and the deposit of the Emergency FGTS were supposed to be automatic.

"Again — as happened with the registration for the R$600 emergency aid — there are failures and discrepancies in information provided to the public by Caixa's management. This causes doubt and apprehension among millions of Brazilians who depend on these benefits to survive the crisis," says the president of Fenae. "It is important to highlight the effort and commitment of the bank's employees from different sectors, who have been working tirelessly to guarantee essential services to the population since the beginning of the pandemic," reinforces Sérgio Takemoto.