Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Director of Bank Supervision and Forex Bureaus at BNR, Françoise Kagoyire said that all banks were informed about the directives warning them against charging clients who may want to close their accounts.
“There are directives that were issued in 2016 with immediate effect. We have recently conducted a monitoring exercise on how the directives are being implemented and found out that some banks are complying. We have also sent them a message reminding them about the directives,” she said.
Kagoyire said that banks are not allowed to charge monthly fees on bankrupt accounts.
Banks were also urged to transfer to the Central Bank money from accounts that exceed five years without any transactions in order to ensure the funds security.
Central Bank Governor, John Rwangombwa urged clients to declare bank accounts that are no longer operational so that they don’t confuse planners during the national budget planning.
“Directives state that when you don’t want to use the account, you ask for its closure. Banks used to consider these accounts as operational and charge them monthly fees until they fall into debts,” he said.
Different banks had been charging between Rwf5,000 and Rwf10,000 for closing a bank account.
BNR observed in February 2017 that closing bank accounts exercise was being done contrary to the directives and the regulator was seeking to introduce new directives that would harmonize the exercise in all banks.
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