The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has asked banks to contact customers, via any means of communication, to warn them against the misuse of credit and debit cards.
The warning targets customers who are not travelling abroad.
In a statement issued on Thursday, CBE said it has noticed that some credit and debit cards are used in transactions outside Egypt though their owners are still inside the country.
CBE added that a decision has been issued on December 1 to ban bank customers from obtaining hard currency for the purpose of traveling overseas if they are actually not leaving the country.
It said banks should regularly review the use of such cards in any transactions carried out outside the country by customers who are not traveling abroad.
CBE asserted that banks, which have noticed a recurrent use of such cards in ways that are contradictory to the nature of the customers’ usage, should report the incidents to the Central Administration to report any credit risks.
If the customers were proved to have not travelled abroad or misused the cards, the banks will directly suspend the cards and notify the customers as well as the Egyptian Credit Bureau “I-Score” to take any necessary procedures in this regard, added the statement.
Source: State Information Service Egypt