The Bank of Mozambique received 337 complaints in every 100,000 customers of various banks, microbanks and electronic money institutions in the last half of 2022.

Most of the complaints concern credit issues, at a time when non-performing loans have been at alarming levels in recent months in the Mozambican financial system.

Of the total number of complaints, Banco de Moçambique says that 106 mention Millennium Bim (BIM) and 52 mention Banco Comercial e de Investimento (BCI). As well as credit issues, a statement from the institution also includes complaints about customer service, foreign exchange operations and the operation of ATMs.

In a statement, the Central Bank does not detail the issues raised by customers, but only the issues reported.

The remaining complaints fall 15 on Absa Bank, 12 on Moza Banco, 20 on Standard Bank, 21 on Letshego, 10 on First National Banck (FNB), 15 on Acess Bank, three each on Ecobank and FCB, and two each on United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Nedbank.

Of the microbanks, the highlights are 39 complaints against Bayport, 17 against Mybucks, five against Rónica and one against microcredit Confiança. As for the electronic money institutions, the highlights are six complaints to the Bank of Mozambique against M-pesa, three against E-mola and one against Carteira Móvel.

Although the Bank of Mozambique does not detail the content of the complaints, mainly about credit, the fact is that up until the first half of 2022, the institution warned that non-performing loans were above normal, standing at 10.02%, above the conventional benchmark of 5.0%. As a result, more and more bank foreclosures have been announced in the country's largest newspaper in recent months. (Letter)