Electronic money is a means of payment constituting a debt instrument embedded in an electronic device and accepted as payment by third parties other than the issuer.
Electronic money must be issued for an amount whose value cannot exceed the value of the funds received in return.
For the purposes of the regulation, an electronic device is defined as the recording of signals in computer memory, either embedded in a card provided by the issuer to the bearer, which may be registered or anonymous, or included in a computer, loaded by the user or managed centrally.
Any project to create electronic money must be submitted beforehand to the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) for authorization.
All electronic money issuers are subject to the oversight of the COBAC (Central African Banking Commission) for these operations.
The funds received in exchange for the issued electronic money are funds received from the public as defined in Article 5 of the Annex to the Convention of 17 January 1992 on the Harmonization of Banking Regulations in the States of Central Africa.
However, these funds are allocated to the payment of electronic money acceptors.
By way of exception, the issuer may use them for its own account within the limits and under the conditions set by a COBAC regulation.
When the electronic money is not deposited into an account, it is contractually specified to the holders that reimbursement can be obtained without any fees other than those required by the transaction, during the validity period of the payment method. These fees may not exceed an amount set by a COBAC regulation.
The COBAC (Central African Banking Commission) issues regulations concerning:
- The procedures for authorizing regulated institutions wishing to issue electronic money, either primarily or secondarily;
- The specific prudential regime for electronic money issuance operations.