The Banking Commission of the West African Monetary Union (UEMOA) has published a new circular on the handling of customer complaints. A circular in which it is noted the conditionalities and the firm instructions given to the banking structures as well as the recommendations to the users.

''As part of the protection of users of banking services, the President of the Uemoa Banking Commission signed, on September 18, 2020, circular No. 002-2020 / CB / C relating to the processing of customer complaints. institutions subject to the supervision of the Commission Bancaire. At the end of the said circular, the reporting institutions are required to have an internal system for processing complaints made by customers and to take the necessary steps to inform customers of the existence of such a system ( display in their premises, website and contractual documents),'' noted the national director for Senegal of the Central Bank of West African States (Bceao), Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo. It was during a press conference initiated during this week in Dakar.

The filing of a complaint by a customer, according to said circular, gives rise to the issue, by the credit institution, of a receipt which serves as the date of receipt of the complaint. According to the provisions of Article 7 of the aforementioned Circular, the establishment is required to provide a response to the customer's complaint within a period not exceeding one month from the date of receipt of the request. also underlined the BCEAO which specifies that the processing of complaints is provided free of charge to the customer.

In addition, the BCEAO, through the main agency in Dakar, retained in its circular, in its article 11, that "any customer not satisfied with the treatment reserved for his request or who has not received a response within the fixed period of one month can seize the Banking Commission of Uemoa (mail [email protected] ), subject to or respecting certain conditions of admissibility''. This is the case if the request ''is related to financial products and services provided by the institution; it has been previously submitted by the claimant to the establishment concerned; it is accompanied by documents and information (a detailed and chronological account of the facts at the origin of the complaint and the steps already taken by the complainant as well as a copy of the establishment's response and, failing that, the formal indication of the claiming that he did not obtain an answer within the time limits provided for in Article 7); it should not be subject to examination by an extrajudicial or administrative judicial body, in particular by the dispute resolution mechanisms set up within the framework of the Observatories of the quality of financial services (Oqsf)''.

These conditions listed above, met, the Banking Commission has a period of sixty calendar days, from the date of receipt of the complete file, to investigate the claim of the applicant, informs the National Director for Senegal of the Bceao . This states: “When the complaint results from non-compliance with the regulations in force, the necessary corrective measures are taken by the establishment at the request of the Banking Commission of UEMOA. The WAEMU Banking Commission informs the claimant, at the end of the investigation, of the action taken on his complaint”.