Regulatory Alerts2022-12-22
Added · Updated
Circular dated December 20, 2022 regarding exempting some banking services from commissions
The circular instructs banks to notify customers that using credit or debit cards for transactions outside Egypt while remaining in the country, or obtaining foreign currency for travel without departing, is prohibited. Banks must review card usage and foreign currency requests for travel since December 1, 2022, and report any suspicious patterns indicating non-travel or misuse to the Central Bank's Credit Risk Aggregation Department. If misuse is confirmed, banks must suspend the card, notify the customer, and report the case to the Egyptian Credit Information Company (Score-I).
Cairo on December 22
Dear Sir,
With reference to the observation that some credit cards and direct debit cards are being used for transactions outside the Arab Republic of Egypt despite the cardholders being present within the country, as well as the provision of foreign currency for some customers for the purpose of traveling abroad, which later turns out to be a misuse of those cards by customers who do not leave the country.
In this regard, we wish to alert that your bank must notify customers via any means of communication that the misuse of credit cards and direct debit cards by customers who do not leave the country is prohibited, as well as the prohibition of requesting foreign currency for the purpose of traveling abroad without leaving the country. Furthermore, your bank must review a sample of the usage of those cards which took place outside the country, as well as requests for foreign currency for the purpose of travel, since the first of December 2022. In the event that your bank observes increasingly repeated usage that contradicts the nature of the customer's transactions, indicating suspicion of the customer's misuse of the card or the foreign currency obtained, in the presence of indicators suggesting the customer did not leave the country, your bank must provide the Central Administration for Credit Risk Aggregation at the Central Bank with complete data on these customers, as well as any other similar cases, on a continuous basis, so that the Central Bank can take the necessary action with the relevant authorities from the date of receipt to verify whether the customer has traveled or not. In the event that the customer is verified not to have traveled or that the cards were misused, your bank will be directed to stop dealing with the card and notify the customer thereof, as well as notify the Egyptian Credit Information Company (Score-I), taking all necessary procedures in this regard.
Please accept our highest regards,
Hassan Abdullah