Banks in Central African Republic

The Central African Republic uses the XAF, also called the CFA franc, within the CEMAC monetary area. BEAC manages the common currency and payment infrastructure, while COBAC supervises banks through prudential rules, inspections, sanctions and, where applicable, provisional administration or liquidation. The Ministry of Finance and Budget handles national monetary and public-finance responsibilities and participates in local authorization procedures, with COBAC approval required in the regional framework. Four active formal banks were recorded in the Central African Republic at 31 December 2024: BGFI Bank Centrafrique, BSIC-Centrafrique, Banque Populaire Maroco-Centrafricaine (BPMC) and Ecobank Centrafrique. A 2026 Ministry of Finance note identifies BPMC, BGFI Bank Centrafrique and Ecobank Centrafrique as resident SVT banks. SVT status concerns participation in a specific public-finance function and does not prove that a bank offers every retail product or has broad public access. Formal banking remains concentrated in Bangui. The Ministry of Finance reported bancarisation of about 7% and financial inclusion of about 3% in 2026. Exact branch and cash-machine coverage, opening hours, minimum balances and account-opening times are not established in one central source, so the current conditions must be checked with each provider. Outside Bangui, mobile money is often the more practical channel for transfers, cash deposits and withdrawals, merchant payments and bill payments. A bank may offer a current account, savings or passbook account, and term deposit. The local terms include compte courant, compte sur livret and dépôt à terme. Available currencies, interest rates, minimum amounts, fees and withdrawal conditions depend on the provider's current tariff and account contract. Banks and payment providers normally perform identity and anti-money-laundering checks, and customers must provide truthful information. The contract sets the parties' duties; a provider cannot change fees or conditions outside the agreed contract, and payment-service changes must be communicated in writing in an official language in a traceable form no later than one month before they take effect. Mobile money uses electronic money held in a payment wallet, not an ordinary bank deposit. In 2024, the Central African Republic recorded 559,620 mobile-money accounts, 27,527,169 transactions and a transaction value of 189,354,195,064 FCFA. These figures do not equal the number of unique users because one person may hold several wallets and some cash users may not be registered. Services generally operate through cash-in and cash-out agents, transfers, merchant and bill payments, and, where the provider participates, bank-to-mobile and mobile-to-bank transactions. Current operator names, tariffs, limits, agent locations and service hours require provider-by-provider verification. Payments can use regional systems including SYSTAC, SYGMA, SWIFT and GIMACPAY. GIMACPAY can support mobile-to-mobile and mobile-to-bank transfers, bank-to-mobile transfers, merchant payments, coded cash withdrawals at ATMs and receipt of international transfers, but availability depends on the participating institution. BEAC is standardising ISO 20022 for CEMAC payment systems. Cards may use GIMAC or international schemes depending on the issuer; a complete current catalogue of Central African Republic cards, ATM acceptance and card fees is not centrally evidenced. FOGADAC provides mandatory deposit protection for eligible deposits held with CEMAC credit institutions, up to 5,000,000 FCFA per depositor and credit institution. The guarantee's exact scope and procedure follow FOGADAC rules. This protection must not be assumed to cover mobile-money balances, because a payment wallet is not the same product as a bank deposit. Customers should protect their PIN and secret codes, verify the recipient before confirming a transfer, retain receipts, SMS messages and transaction IDs, and use the bank's or payment provider's official support channel for errors. BEAC Circular 004/DGE/DSMP/2023 establishes a restitution procedure for erroneous payment-provider transfers. ANIF receives suspicious-transaction reports in the Central African Republic, while fraud risks include agent impersonation, SIM or PIN compromise and mistaken transfers. No single current public directory establishes every local complaint channel or branch-level service condition, so the provider's contract, tariff and official support channel remain the practical reference.