Mozambique: Almost 1,000 complaints filed by bank customers in first half

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Mozambique: Almost 1,000 complaints filed by bank customers in first half

3:57 CAT | 03 Dec 2024

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Banco de Moçambique]

Mozambican banking consumers filed 979 complaints in the first half of the year, more than half of which were related to the country’s two largest banking institutions, both controlled by Portuguese banks and both with more than one million customers.

According to a central bank report accessed by Lusa today, of the total number of complaints received from January to June, Millennium BIM recorded 359, with a complaints rate of 17.6, and Banco Comercial de Investimentos, part of the Caixa Geral de Depósitos group, 269, a rate of 11.5.

Among banks with 200,000 to one million customers, Absa Mozambique had a total of 58 complaints (index 25.3), Moza Banco had 40 (15.4) and Standard Bank had a total of 37 (7.9).

According to the same report, around 45% of the total complaints filed in this period were about the functioning of ATM machines, namely money not being made available but nonetheless debited from the respective bank account. Almost 18% were about credit operations and 15.3% were about undue debits and blocked bank accounts.

Complaints filed by banking customers grew 38.5% to 1,120 in 2023, according to previous data from the Bank of Mozambique, which reported having returned 808 million meticais (€12 million) to consumers.

In the central bank’s 2023 annual report, as previously reported by Lusa, the institution stated that, among the complaints received and inspections carried out, “several irregularities were detected”, especially “in the charging of commissions and charges for financial products and services”.

In addition to issuing “specific determinations and recommendations to ensure compliance with standards and duties of conduct” by credit institutions and financial companies (ICSF), the central bank explained that “around 808 million meticais were also recovered and returned to financial consumers”. Of this total, 62.6%, equivalent to 506 million meticais (€7.5 million), “resulted from undue charges to economic agents contracting POS (point of sale), and 33%, worth 264 million meticais (€3.9 million), “from the undue charging of commissions and charges in the contracting and administration of bank credit”.

“In addition, several violations were found related to the implementation of standards and failure to comply with deadlines by the ICSF. As a result of these violations, the Bank of Mozambique initiated 13 misdemeanour proceedings, four of which were concluded, with the application of the respective fines,” the institution reported.

In 2023, the Bank of Mozambique received 1,120 complaints from customers of financial and credit institutions, the highest number ever, compared to 809 in 2022 and 704 in 2021.

“This growth may be associated with the fact that there is greater financial awareness among consumers of financial products and services regarding their rights and obligations, largely resulting from the financial education campaigns that the Bank of Mozambique has been carrying out,” the report concludes.

At the end of 2023, a total of 15 banks, 14 micro-banks, four credit unions, 13 savings and loan organizations and 2,304 microcredit operators (among others) were operating in Mozambique.

Source: Lusa