The Supreme Court has ruled against the Carrefour Pass loyalty cards marketed in 2019, considering that the entity did not adequately inform consumers about the operation and risks of the revolving payment system. The ruling, handed down on February 17, 2026, upholds the appeal presented by the Association of Financial Users (ASUFIN) and concludes that there was a lack of transparency, which opens the door for more than one million clients to claim a refund of the overcharged interest.
As reported by Cadena SER, the High Court points out that the contract did not clearly explain “the characteristics and, above all, the risks of the revolving system” and that the content seemed aimed more at highlighting the commercial advantages of the card than at allowing the consumer to understand the economic consequences of the credit.
The magistrates warn that this lack of transparency could have led many users to contract a financial product that could generate a prolonged debt over time, to the point of turning the client into what the ruling itself calls “a captive debtor.”
The revolving system can generate the so-called “snowball effect”
The Supreme Court explains that this type of card works through revolving credit that is automatically renewed each time a small part of the capital is repaid. This mechanism, combined with high interests and very low monthly payments, can cause the so-called “snowball effect.”
In the case analyzed, the minimum payment could be around 3% of the credit limit or a minimum of 15 euros, which meant that a large part of the monthly payment was allocated to interest and barely reduced the debt. Added to this is anatocism, that is, the capitalization of interest in the event of non-payment, which causes interest to generate new interest.
According to the Supreme Court, this system can prolong the debt for years and cause the consumer to pay much more than what they initially requested, without being fully aware of it at the time of contracting.
Up to 1.5 million customers could claim overcharged interest
Following the ruling, ASUFIN maintains that all customers who contracted this card before the pandemic could claim a refund of the overcharged interest.
The association estimates that around 1.5 million consumers took out Carrefour Pass cards in 2019, with a total debt reaching approximately 3 billion euros.
As this is a final ruling that does not allow appeal, the organization has announced that it will begin to collect documentation from those affected to demand the corresponding amounts from the entity. The amount to be recovered will depend on the credit used by each client, although the association warns that the interest can double or even triple the capital initially provided.
The ruling opens the door to review other revolving card contracts
The Supreme Court’s ruling could also have broader effects on the financial sector. As ASUFIN explains, the ruling opens the door to reviewing other revolving card contracts marketed before the regulatory changes introduced in 2021, when the ministerial order that reinforced transparency in this type of credit came into force.
In the case of the Carrefour Pass card, it was also a loyalty card linked to supermarkets, which made it easier to contract at the checkout itself and could lead consumers to take on credit without fully knowing its risks.