Key Benefits:
Minister of Finance and Public Accounts,
Vu le monetary and financial codeincluding article L. 312-1-1 A;
Considering the professional standard adopted by the French Association of Credit Institutions and Investment Companies;
Considering the opinion of the Financial Sector Advisory Committee of 30 September 2014;
Considering the advice of the Financial Legislation and Regulatory Advisory Committee of October 8, 2014,
Stop it!
The Charter of Banking Inclusion and Debt Prevention, adopted by the Association française des établissements de crédit et des entreprises d'invest dans les conditions prévues à l'article L. 312-1-1 A of the monetary and financial code, annexed to this Order, is approved. It is applicable to all credit institutions, payment institutions, electronic currency institutions and financing companies. It comes into force twelve months after the publication of this Order.
The present order will be issued in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Annex
CHARTE D'INCLUSION BANCAIRE ET DE PRÉVENTION DU SURENDET
Preamble
Promoting banking inclusion and preventing over-indebtedness are objectives shared by government, credit institutions, payment institutions, electronic currency institutions and financing companies.
In recent years, credit institutions and financing companies have put in place a number of mechanisms in this area: offering products and services specially designed for categories of clients facing difficulties in managing their budget or in financial fragility; creation of dedicated services to support clients in financial fragility situations; partnerships with social actors to facilitate the appropriate use of banking products and services, including microcredit.
La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La Act No. 2013-672 of 26 July 2013 the separation and regulation of banking activities provides for several measures of protection of natural persons not acting for professional needs and support for banking inclusion. These measures include bank charges, in particular the cap of the intervention commissions and the bank's information of fees related to irregularities or incidents prior to their debit. In addition, credit institutions are obliged to offer their clients in financial fragility, as defined by theArticle R. 312-4-3 of the Monetary and Financial Codea specific offer of services and means of payment. The law also provides for the creation of an Observatory for Banking Inclusion (OIB) as well as adjustments to the procedures of account law and treatment of debt situations. Article 55 finally provides for the adoption by the Association française des institutions de crédit et des entreprises d'invest (AFECEI) of a charter of bank inclusion and prevention of over-indebtedness, thus implementing one of the measures of the multi-year plan against poverty and for social inclusion adopted by the Government on January 21, 2013.
Credit institutions, payment institutions and electronic currency institutions when they offer a payment account management service with means of payment (transfer, debit, payment card...) (hereinafter "Payment Facilities") and the financing companies undertake in this charter:
- to put in place measures to strengthen the access of natural persons not acting for professional needs to banking services and to facilitate their use;
- to develop mechanisms for early detection and treatment of the difficulties of their clients in order to better prevent over-indebtedness.
Pursuant to Article L. 312-1-1 A of the monetary and financial code, AFECEI adopted this Charter of Banking Inclusion and Debt Prevention.
I. - Strengthen access to banking and payment services and facilitate their use
1. Credit institutions offer their clients "basic banking services" defined in the articles D. 312-5 and D. 312-6 the monetary and financial code an annual contact to assess whether, in view of the changes in their personal situation and their needs, another offer of banking products and services would be more appropriate. If the customer wishes to benefit from other services than those included in the "basic banking services", his express waiver for the benefit of these free services is collected.
2. Credit institutions, payment institutions and electronic currency institutions are committed to providing their customers with services that facilitate the proper management of the account and limit the risks of incidents. These services are presented to consumers based on their situation (e.g., payment card with systematic authorization, account balance alert service).
3. Credit institutions present the specific offer provided by theArticle L. 312-1-3 of the Monetary and Financial Code and its benefits to the public to which it is intended; internal procedures available to client advisors include the necessary elements for the implementation of this information system.
4. More broadly, in order to raise awareness of this specific offer, credit institutions present it in their tariff plate in the "Grouped Service Offers" section and identify it in the summary.
5. If an uncovered authorization is granted to the opening of the account, credit institutions are committed to ensuring that the amount of the credit is fixed at a reasonable level, particularly in view of the amount of the credited resources.
Credit institutions are committed to proposing to their clients in financial fragility, either because they have been identified as such by the detection mechanisms put in place, or when the customer's advisor considers that his use of the uncovered authorization is no longer appropriate, a telephone interview, or agency, to adapt, where appropriate, the means of payment and the amount of the uncovered authorization associated with the account.
6. Credit institutions, payment institutions and electronic currency institutions, through their professional federation, provide the general public, associations and other stakeholders with educational tools and information on the services offered, such as account management and means of payment to promote the proper use of these services.
II. - Preventing over-indebtedness
The prevention of over-indebtedness in credit institutions, payment institutions, electronic currency institutions and financing companies, while respecting the particularities of each network, is based on two pillars: detection and support of clients in financial fragility.
Detection
7. Credit institutions, payment institutions, electronic currency institutions and financing companies set up an early detection mechanism(s) for their customers in a financial fragility that combines internal alert devices and customer knowledge.
As such, and in accordance with the provisions of the "Information and Freedoms" law, they have a specific device to identify the financial difficulties of their customers with regard to the use of the products and services subscribed to them by their customers on the basis of their own criteria, taking into account, in particular, their customer profiles and their financial behaviour.
The accompaniment
8. Credit institutions, payment institutions, electronic currency institutions and financing companies are committed to suggesting to their clients that they have detected appropriate internal responses in a financial fragility, including:
- propose by any appropriate means to the client concerned an interview in order to make with him a point on his financial difficulties;
- propose, to the extent possible, payment, account management or credit solutions appropriate to its situation with a view to addressing its difficulties or preventing their aggravation;
- if necessary, provide information to the customer on a third party actor who can help, or even, with the agreement, make a connection with that third party actor.
With this in mind, credit institutions, payment institutions, electronic currency institutions and financing companies are in-house or, where appropriate, partner with third-party actors, including associations, in order to facilitate the customer's orientation, in agreement with the client, where financial difficulties cannot be dealt with in the sole framework of the credit establishment, the payment establishment, the electronic currency establishment concerned.
III. - Training of staff and monitoring of measures implemented
Staff training
9. Client advisors in credit account institutions receive appropriate training on the specific offer for clients in financial fragility situations provided for in the financial fragilityArticle L. 312-1-3 of the Monetary and Financial Code, on the clientele to which it is intended as well as on the follow-up of clients receiving basic banking services.
10. Credit institutions, payment institutions, electronic currency institutions and financing companies are committed to ensuring that persons acting on their behalf (both their personnel, their agents or their agents concerned) in contact with customers receive training on specific devices dedicated to clients in vulnerable situations set up within their business.
Follow up on measures implemented
11. Credit institutions, payment institutions, electronic currency institutions and financing companies are committed to include in the report on internal control transmitted annually to the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution a part "Actions implemented in favour of clients in vulnerable situations" informing on their procedures for the detection and support of these customers.
12. In order to ensure the effectiveness of these measures, credit institutions, payment institutions, electronic currency institutions and financing companies address annually to the Observatory for Banking Inclusion under Article L. 312-1-1 B of the Monetary and Financial Code a synthetic document of the main measures implemented for persons in vulnerable situations.
IV. - Scope of measures
The measures contained in this charter apply to all credit institutions, payment institutions, electronic currency institutions and financing companies, with the exception of measures 1, 3, 4, 5 and 9, which apply only to deposit-related credit institutions, and measures 2 and 6, which apply only to such institutions and payment institutions and to electronic currency institutions.
V. - Entry into force
The measures set out in this charter come into force no later than twelve months after the issuance of the registration order by the Minister responsible for the economy.
Done on 5 November 2014.
Michel Sapin
