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How does
the financial
sector ensure
that nobody
is excluded
financially?
The financial sector pays special atten-
tion to people who have financial prob-
lems in society.
The basic bank service ensures that ev-
erybody has at least a current account.
Micro-financing tries to open up lend-
ing to people for whom the traditional
avenues are closed.
The financial sector must ensure that
the increase in the digitalisation of
products and services will not make
people fall behind in the future.
Basic bank service
It may occur that a customer cannot open a
current account because of his financial situ-
ation, or because his previous accounts have
been closed. Without a current account, how-
ever, it becomes difficult to pay bills, for exam-
ple, or to withdraw money. To give everybody
an opportunity to make payments, the basic
bank account has been legally regulated since
2003.
This service ensures that every consum-
er in Belgium is entitled to a current account,
at a maximum cost of €13.97 per year.
This basic bank account is subject to a couple
of conditions: a consumer is not, for example,
allowed to have more than €6000 in savings or
loan contracts and must not have committed
any crimes.
In 2011, 12 financial institutions registered
1095
new basic bank services, and since 2003,
this figure has amounted to 8,605. In all those
years, a basic bank account was refused only
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Support to the community
BASIC BANK SERVICES 2011 STATISTICS
Number of banks having registered
basic bank services
12
Number of basic bank services opened
1,095
Total number of existing basic bank
services
8,605
Number of refused openings of basic
bank services
11
8
Number of basic bank services
cancelled
12
981
11.
For most of the refusals to open an account, the reason was that
the applicant already had an account.
12.
The most frequent reason for cancelling is a request made by the
account holder himself.