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Rights of Consumers of Financial Services in Zimbabwe

Prior to the promulgation of the Consumer Protection Act [Chapter 14:14] the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (“RBZ”) had Consumer Protection Framework No. 1 – 2017/BSD to ensure a sound financial consumer protection framework in Zimbabwe in line with the increasing access to and usage and quality of financial services in the country.

Financial services providers in Zimbabwe are required to act ethically and never to roughshod over innocent and unsuspecting consumers of financial services in Zimbabwe, as that would undermine the integrity of the banking sector. In fact, the High Court in China Shougang International v Standard Chartered Bank Zimbabwe Ltd 2011 (2) ZLR 456 (H) 462 held that:

“It is clear to me, and it must be the most logical conclusion, that once money is placed in the custody of a banker, that banker must be held accountable to the depositor of that money. The banker must be able to repay the depositor upon demand. It is as simple as it comes. It requires no complicated interpretation. It therefore naturally follows that the respondent must account to the applicant of the deposits made to it by the applicant. To hold otherwise would be to create chaos in the banking sector. It would be to allow banks like the respondent to ride roughshod over innocent and unsuspecting customers like the applicant and would in addition severely undermine the assumed integrity of the banking sector.

It is for this reason that RBZ sometime in 2017 designed a Consumer Protection Framework as a precursor to building trust in the formal banking sector in Zimbabwe and thereby encouraging financial inclusion. Some of the rights of consumers using financial services in

Zimbabwe include:

(a) The rights to information and advice;

(b) The right to access to basic financial services;

(c) To right to choose financial products and services;

(d) The right to ethical and fair conduct;

(e) The right to be hard and redress;

(f) The right to financial education; and

(g) The right to privacy of data in the custody of financial services providers.