Banks and microfinance in Cameroon ordered to offer 22 free services no later than January 2023

(Invest in Cameroon) – “From 1^er January 2023, all credit and microfinance institutions will be required to offer all twenty-two (22) SBMG services free of charge[Service bancaire minimum garanti]“. This is the injunction contained in a letter that the Cameroonian Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, has just sent to the managing directors of the country’s banking sector.

The member of the government explains that he is making this summons after noting that certain credit and microfinance institutions do not offer all the SBMGs prescribed by the regulations of the Central African Banking Commission (Cobac) of July 30 2020. This regulation provides that these establishments are required to offer and free of charge, since 1^er February 2021, 22 services to consumers of banking products and services.

According to the regulations, in the event of a violation duly noted by Cobac, the latter sends to the offender, through the diligence of the national director of the Bank of Central African States (Beac), an order for the payment of the sum unduly deducted from the customers who are victims of the offense as well as a formal notice enjoining them to put an end to this act, within a maximum period of 30 days. In the event of a repeat offence, the Commission may itself determine the penalties to be applied, in proportion to the damage suffered by the client.

The list of 22 services that must be offered free of charge, according to Cobac R-2020/04 regulation

Account opening;

Account maintenance;

The change of identification elements constituting the consumer’s file;

Issuance of the bank identity statement;

Issuance of a savings account and its renewal;

Consultation of the account in the branches of the establishment;

Checking the balance in the ATMs of the cardholder’s establishment;

Electronic debit or credit advice;

The delivery, once a month, on paper at the counter, or electronically, of the monthly account statement;

The delivery, once a year, in paper form at the counter, or electronically, to the consumer who requests it, of a summary of the costs and transactions carried out during the year not resulting from an order from the consumer;