Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) this week unveiled its annual report on financial market infrastructures and means of payment, their supervision and Financial Inclusion for the 2021 financial year.
The report is divided into three parts, we will mainly focus on the one dealing with Financial Inclusion, and more precisely the Evaluation of the quality of services provided to individual customers.
In this chapter of the report, of which MoroccoLatestNews UKholds a copy, BAM refers to the Banking Services Price Index (IPSB) drawn up in 2011 by BAM in consultation with the Professional Association of Moroccan Banks (GPBM), following on from the measures taken in recent years to improve the transparency of banking practices.
The working group, created for this purpose, carried out a study on the experiences of other countries and carried out an information mission to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies in France (INSEE) and the Committee Financial Sector Consultative (CCSF).
It appears from the BAM report that the IPSB stood at 128.35 at the end of 2021, thus recording an increase of 28 points compared to the reference year 2011 and two points compared to 2020. This upward trend compared to the reference year (2011) reflects the increase in the prices of the banking services that make up the basket, in particular package “, of the ” Account maintenance fees ” and some ” Bank card “says the report.
In addition, it is specified, the 1.6% increase recorded by the IPSB in 2021 compared to 2020 is mainly explained by the 4.9% increase in ” Account maintenance fees » and 2.2% of the costs relating to the « Bank card “, which offset the 4.2% drop in commissions received on offers of the type “ package “.
With regard to the structure of the basket, and following the example of the trend observed previously, the commissions collected on offers of the type “ package “, account maintenance and bank cards account for 82% of total commissions.
Thus, any change in the pricing of these three services, in particular by the banks that dominate the banking market, has a significant impact on the level of the IPSB.
Three services, initially defined at the level of Directive 2/G/201249 relating to the Price Index of Banking Services, have become free since 2016 following a consultation between the members of the GPBM and Bank Al-Maghrib, recalls BAM.
These are stoppages on stolen or lost cheques, stoppages on bank cards as well as Internet banking subscription fees (custody of securities, execution of stock market orders).
To this end, the report indicates that Bank Al-Maghrib has published a list comprising the 22 banking services offered free of charge by banks to their customers.
It includes, among other things, the opening of an account, the issuance of a checkbook, the issuance of a savings account, the direct debit of salary, the issuance of a bank account statement certificate, the payment of Cash (excluding payment of the amount of the tax stamp), cash withdrawals from the domiciliation counter, excluding withdrawals by counter check for customers holding a checkbook, cash withdrawals on presentation of a savings account from the domiciliation counter, withdrawal from the automatic teller machines of the institution holding the account, issuing transfers from account to account, between individuals, within the same bank or even receiving national transfers.
The development of the IPSB, which takes into account the conclusions of the aforementioned working group, is based on the following elements: The main purpose of the IPSB is to measure the fluctuation, from one year to the next, of the prices of banking services included in the basket of banks’ individual customers.
The Laspeyres methodology for the calculation of the IPSB, also used for the calculation of the prices of real estate assets, has also been adopted in addition to the definition of a basket of products most frequently used by individuals on the basis of which is calculated the index and finally the calculation of the IPSB on an annual basis with 2011 as the reference year.
The IPSB is calculated on the basis of a weighting of the market shares and the weight of the services in the basket. The evolution of the IPSB is mainly explained by the variation of three parameters, namely the structure of the basket, the market shares of the banks, as well as the price of the main services making up the basket.