Our money, our rights: - Consumers International

• 2004 saw the introduction of Mzansi basic banking for low income
consumers, providing deposit services and ATM usage (but not credit) for
reduced charges. There was no government subsidy. Within six weeks there
were 180,000 users, far exceeding expectations. 90% of the new customers
were previously unknown to the bank 26 .
• The Financial Sector Charter committed banks to a major expansion of
banking services.
• There is a national ombudsman scheme and a National Consumer Tribunal
that can mediate and act as an informal court in disputes over credit
transactions. Courts have the power to suspend a loan if it is thought to have
been ‘reckless’ on the part of the lender. There is a countervailing duty of
disclosure on the consumer to disclose all relevant information (such as
outstanding debts) when applying for a loan.
The state can take the initiative to improve banking services.
This can be in the form of direct provision. For example postal banks exist in many
countries, but ‘bricks and mortar’ networks are slow to develop and branches are
often far from much of the population. The use of bank mandates for money
transfer by postal banks is declining and has virtually collapsed in parts of
Francophone Africa 27 . Attempts are being made to introduce an electronic
equivalent. Consumer education programmes can also be directed at children
through national school curricula. CI member organisations across Africa are
playing a key role in the development of materials and their dissemination to
youngsters 28 .
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