In 2019, five industrial groups controlled more than 60% of the turnover of Tunisia’s most important private companies, reads the “Competition Market Study of Tunisia’s Retail Banking Sector” report, published recently by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
These five groups also have direct links to banks. This has the potential to reduce access to credit for firms unrelated to the five groups.
The report revealed that 64% of Tunisian consumers do not have current accounts, and 62% said they did not know anything about the fees associated with their current accounts.
The report also identifies bank practices limiting the ability of current account customers to make informed decisions. In particular, the limited availability of meaningful information on fees and other conditions, and the barriers to switching accounts when better offers are available blunt banks’ incentives to compete.
“Only 3% of consumers and 4% of small businesses had switched current accounts in the prev
ious year, and they tended to stay with their providers for a long time. When seeking finance, businesses tended to use only their current account providers.”
According to this report, several factors may weaken competition across the markets, including a number of legal provisions and market practices, alongside banks’ ownership structures.
As such, the OECD recommended four packages of recommendations, these include measures to increase customer engagement, to improve competition in the market for MSME finance, to eliminate unnecessary regulatory provisions stifling competition in the payment services sector and to strengthen incentives for banks to compete.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse