The Bank is mandated to protect consumers of services provided by Financial Services Providers (FSPs) under its jurisdiction. Consumers are protected to enhance their confidence and trust in the financial system. Specifically, trust and confidence can be achieved through adequate disclosure and transparency, protection of client information, fair treatment, effective complaints handling and redress mechanism; and provision of financial education and literacy.
The Bank issued the Financial Consumer Protection Regulations, 2019 to guide financial services providers to have in place the effective complaints handling mechanism to resolve customer complaints. Further, the regulations prohibit FSPs from engaging in unfair or deceptive market practices. Furthermore, the Bank performs offsite and onsite market conduct supervision to ensure compliance with the regulations.
The purpose of market conduct supervision by the Bank is to strengthen the Bank’s ability to identify and mitigate risks in the market arising from unsound market practices by the FSPs.
Before lodging a complaint with the Bank, a consumer is required to exhaust the internal complaints resolution by the financial institution. A complaint must be lodged before expiry of two years after the cause of action arose.
A financial institution required to resolve a consumer complaint within 14 days from the date of lodging your complaint. If unable to resolve a complaint within stipulated time, it shall immediately inform a consumer of its inability and reasons for such inability and what measures are being taken to resolve the complaint urgently and in any case not more than 7 days thereafter.
When a consumer is dissatisfied with the decision of a financial institution or has not received a response from a financial institution within 14 days from the date of lodging a complaint, a consumer may within 14 days’ lodge a complaint with the Bank.
When a consumer is aggrieved by the conduct of financial institutions, may lodge their complaints by following procedures provided in the (link, documents and system) (English and Swahili)
The Bank delivers its decision on the matter within 45 days from the date of lodging the complaints with the Bank. In resolving complaints, the Bank is guided by provisions of applicable laws, case laws, underlying agreement and industry practices.
As a remedy the Bank may compel a financial institution to issue an apology, change its practices, effect payment or compensate the complainant as the case may be.
