Procedure for Restitution of Erroneous Fund Transfers by Payment Service Providers in CEMAC

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BANQUE DES ETATS
DE L'AFRIQUE CENTRALE

Yaoundé, le 24 NOV 2023

SERVICES CENTRAUX
Boîte Postale 1917 – Yaoundé
République du Cameroun
TELEX : BANETAC 8343 KN – 88505 KN
Tél. : (237) 222 23 40 60 – 222 23 40 30
Fax : (237) 222 23 33 29 – 222 23 33 50
E-mail : beac@beac.int ; beac@beac.int
Site Web : www.beac.int

DIRECTION GENERALE DE L'EXPLOITATION
Direction des Systèmes et Moyens de Paiement
SERNF/ENJ/SDM

LETTRE CIRCULAIRE N° 004 /DGE/DSMP/2023
Establishing the procedure for requesting restitution of erroneous fund transfers by Payment Service Providers (PSPs) in CEMAC

This Circular Letter establishes the procedure for requesting restitution of erroneous fund transfers by Payment Service Providers (PSPs) in the CEMAC zone.

Payment Service Providers are institutions that, as a regular profession, exclusively provide payment services and related services in accordance with Regulation No. 04/18/CEMAC/UMAC/COBAC of December 21, 2018, regarding payment services in CEMAC.

The procedure for requesting restitution of erroneous fund transfers aims to:

• protect the consumer;
• increase confidence in the use of payment accounts and real-time instant transfers;
• guarantee the irrevocability of instant payment orders.

Payment Service Providers offering mobile payment services must implement a solution or procedure for fund restitution to an erroneous beneficiary. This procedure shall include the following elements.

I. Cases Entitling to a Request for Restitution of Erroneous Transfers

Restitution of funds transferred via mobile telephony may be requested in the following cases:

• erroneous beneficiary;
• error in the beneficiary's details.

N°:SEQ.236/2023
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II. Timeframes for Filing a Request for Restitution of Erroneous Transfers

Any received instant transfer or payment order is immediately credited to the beneficiary's account, but becomes available only five (5) minutes after notification of the credit receipt to said beneficiary.

Within five (5) minutes after account debit and notification of order execution, the ordering client of an instant transfer or payment may request the Payment Service Provider to restitute the transferred funds if the beneficiary is erroneous or if an error was made regarding the latter's details.

The restitution request may also be filed by the ordering client beyond the five (05) regulatory minutes stipulated in this Circular Letter. In such a case, it will only result in the freezing or unavailability of funds if the erroneous beneficiary's account balance is greater than or equal to the amount to be frozen.

III. Actions Regarding the Request for Restitution of Transferred Funds

A) When the client realizes they selected the wrong recipient, they submit a fund restitution request via the menu provided for this purpose by the account-holding Payment Service Provider, which instantly communicates it to the counterparty Payment Service Provider, account holder of the erroneous beneficiary.

B) Upon receipt of the restitution request, the Payment Service Provider holding the erroneous beneficiary's account must, on one hand, automatically freeze, immobilize, and make unavailable the disputed funds, and on the other hand, notify its beneficiary client of this restitution request and the immediate freeze. The erroneous beneficiary is invited to validate the fund restitution or contest it via a notification sent to their account-holding Payment Service Provider, with a copy to the restitution claimant.

C) In case of acceptance of the restitution request, said acceptance constitutes a payment or transfer order in favor of the restitution claimant, and the erroneous beneficiary's Payment Service Provider must execute it without further procedure.

D) The erroneous beneficiary's failure to respond to the restitution request within 24 hours for commercial transfers and payments, or 48 hours for other transfers or payments, constitutes acceptance of said request and an order to restitute the funds to the claimant.

E) In case of contestation by the erroneous beneficiary, the disputed funds remain frozen and the ordering claimant must initiate legal proceedings to obtain fund restitution. The contestation or refusal to restitute must be notified to the claimant through their account-holding Payment Service Provider. This notification serves as a title or supporting document to justify any potential legal proceedings.

N°:SEQ.236/2023
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IV. Implementation Deadline

Payment Service Providers executing instant transfers or commercial payments, via mobile telephony or otherwise, are required to implement this Circular Letter by March 31, 2024 at the latest.

Consequently, by March 31, 2024, they must amend the general terms and conditions of their cardholder contracts and commercial/acceptor contracts for payment cards or electronic wallets to include the following provisions:

• the received payment or transfer is available only five (05) minutes from notification of its receipt;

• the transaction may be contested by the ordering client within this timeframe due to an error in the beneficiary's details, and that such contestation constitutes a freeze and restitution request; that this request is executed if the beneficiary does not contest within 24 or 48 hours.

This Circular Letter enters into force as of its signing date.

The General Director of Operations,

[Signature]

OTOUMOU Jean-Clary

Copy: - The Governor
- The Secretary General of the COBAC.

N°:SEQ.236/2023
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