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> Posted by Maria Perdomo, YouthStart Programme Manager, UN Capital Development Fund

Opening a bank account in Senegal gave me first-hand experience in how a bank can fail to apply the client protection principle on transparency. On my visit to open the account, I spent one hour waiting and another hour completing forms and asking the sales representative questions. When I decided that I had spent too much time trying to understand exactly what fees were associated with the account, I asked the representative for a brochure that explained it all. She looked at me as if I were speaking another language because, in fact, the bank did not have a single document disclosing all the fees associated with the account. So there I was, writing down all the fees the representative could remember. In the end—and after a lot of probing—together we estimated that I would have to spend about US$30 (CFAF 15,000) to open the account and then US$10 to US$15 on monthly fees! But, of course, I would not know exactly how much I was paying in fees before receiving my first statement.

A couple of months later, I went to visit a financial service provider in Uganda and interviewed the group of young women and girls that you can see in the photo. I was completely taken by how these empowered young women were saving in their individual accounts as little as 1,000 Uganda shillings (US$0.39) per week. For them, every penny counts, and they can only afford saving in an institution that is transparent about its fees and responsible about its pricing. Seeing this group of young women and girls, in contrast with my not-so-positive experience at the bank, reinforced my commitment to client protection for youth, who are among the most vulnerable clients.

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