Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Bank of Mozambique, in its role as regulator of the national financial system, has announced that companies and individuals can only use their bank cards abroad to make payments of up to six million meticais (94,000 US dollars at the current exchange rate) per year.
This means that companies or individuals can only make payments abroad, using credit or debit cards, of up to 500,000 meticais per month, 125,000 meticais per week, and about 16,400 meticais per day.
According to a Bank of Mozambique statement, the annual limit corresponds to the aggregate value across the entire national banking system, set for each account holder, regardless of the number of contracts signed with credit institutions, or the number of bank cards, and the payment channels through which transactions are made, including cash withdrawals.
“Once this limit is reached, national banks must block the card after notifying the client”, reads the note.
“The Bank of Mozambique reserves the right to set, on a case-by-case basis and upon request, additional limits to those established, but not exceeding six million meticais”, adds the document.
The Notice explains that the “request must be substantiated and submitted by the applicant to a credit institution of their choice, accompanied by supporting documents proving the reason for the need; amount; period; country of destination; and other relevant information”.
The measure also forces the commercial banks to notify cardholders whenever they reach half of their annual credit limit “and block their bank cards. The banks will receive assistance from the central bank to notify their cardholders.”
The commercial bank must assess the request for additional funds, issue its opinion, and submit it to the central bank within five working days. “Upon receiving the opinion, the Bank of Mozambique decides whether to approve or reject it within 15 working days.”
According to the document, the violations of these measures constitute a foreign exchange offense punishable by law.
