The Central Bank of Syria has issued a decision setting the regulatory framework and pricing rules for fees and commissions charged on banking services and products at all banks operating in Syria.

The decision, issued on Thursday, November 5, imposed several new prohibitions on banks operating in the country to protect customers’ rights and regulate financial relations between banks and their customers.

It introduced a package of strict rules, alongside a procedure for changing fees and commissions, and gave banks a specified period to bring their operations into compliance and amend their policies.

Restrictions on Account Fees

Article 4 of the decision prohibits banks from charging or recording any commissions on current accounts solely because of insufficient funds if doing so would create a debit balance for the customer without an actual service being provided or a disclosed contractual basis.

The decision prohibits commissions that do not correspond to an actual service, as well as charges for optional services without the customer’s prior consent. It also bans the use of labels such as “account management fees” or “subscription fees” to collect money without providing a corresponding service.

For salary payment arrangements, the central bank prohibited all banking institutions from charging employees or employers any fees or commissions, directly or indirectly, for opening accounts designated for salary payments, or for transferring, depositing or disbursing salaries.

Charges for other services are permitted only for separate services that customers voluntarily request and approve in advance, provided that access to salary payment services is not made conditional on using those services.

The decision also limits “account management” commissions to cases in which customers actually subscribe to predefined service packages with their explicit consent. It prohibits charging them as recurring fees simply for maintaining an account.

Rules for Changing Commissions

Article 8 of the central bank’s decision sets procedural requirements for any changes to commission schedules, requiring banks to notify the Government Commission for Banks of any proposed changes before implementing them.

Requests for changes must include economic, operational and quantitative justifications, specifying:

– The commission to be changed.
– The current and proposed amounts, and the percentage change.
– The economic and operational reasons justifying the increase.
– An assessment of the change’s impact on customers.
– The proposed implementation date.

The central bank also required banks to notify customers through official channels of any commission changes at least five business days before they take effect. It categorically prohibited applying revised commissions retroactively.

One Month to Comply

The central bank gave financial and banking institutions a maximum of one month from the decision’s effective date to bring their operations, policies, procedures and commission schedules into compliance with the new rules.

During this period, banks must submit their revised policies and schedules to the Government Commission for Banks. The decision takes effect from its date of issuance, while all previous decisions and instructions that conflict with its provisions are to be amended or repealed once the one-month compliance period ends.

Before this decision, there was no standardized schedule or strict regulatory framework setting caps on banking commissions or prohibiting certain charges. Instead, commissions varied widely between state-owned and private banks, and were imposed and revised according to each bank’s internal instructions and executive decisions.

Banks Allowed to Work With Foreign Payment Companies

In May, the Central Bank of Syria issued a decision allowing banks operating in Syria and local electronic payment companies to work with international payment companies such as Visa and Mastercard.

At the time, Central Bank of Syria Governor Abdulkader Husrieh said allowing licensed banking institutions and electronic payment companies operating in Syria to work with international electronic payment companies “represents an important step toward modernizing Syria’s financial sector.”

The decision opens the door to a new phase in the development of payment systems and strengthens the Syrian market’s integration into the global financial system after years of reliance on traditional, limited tools, Husrieh wrote on his Facebook page.

It also allows local banks and payment companies to expand their services to include more advanced and secure payment solutions for individuals and businesses.