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Seychelles International Mercantile Banking Corporation Ltd (SIMBC) trading as Nouvobanq (NVB) is authorised by the Financial Institutions Act and regulated by the Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS). In line with the Financial Consumer Protection Act 2022 and its regulations, the Bank is required to have in place effective and transparent procedures for the reasonable and prompt handling of complaints, and to recognize that complaints require resolution.

Note: All information related to the complaint and complainant shall be treated confidentially. Information provided by the complainant shall be used only for the purpose for which it was obtained.

Consumer Complaint Guidelines

MAKING A COMPLAINT
There are several ways you can make a complaint if there is any aspect of the service or product from the Bank that you are not satisfied with.

You can:
• Call us on (+248) 4293080
• Email us at complaints@nouvobanq.sc, or
• Make your complaint in person, or by letter at:

Nouvobanq (S.I.M.B.C. Ltd)
Nouvobanq House
Rue De La Possession
Victoria, Mahe
Seychelles
Attn: Complaints Handling Unit

You do not need to make the complaint in writing, but it would help our investigation if you could set all the details clearly in your communication. Please address your complaint to the Complaints Handling Unit (CHU) at the above address. The Bank does not charge a complaint handling fee.

All complaints must be made via:
Face-to-face: Monday- Friday from 8.30am until 2.00 pm
Telephone: Monday- Friday from 8.30am until 4.00 pm, and on Saturdays from 8.30am to 11am.
Electronic Submission: At any time.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS TO BE PROVIDED ALONG WITH YOUR COMPLAINT
For the Complainant:
• Your National Identity Card or Passport.

For the Person lodging the complaint on behalf of an aggrieved consumer:
• National Identity Card or Passport of the person lodging the complaint on behalf of an aggrieved consumer and that of the aggrieved consumer;
• Signed approval submitted by the aggrieved consumers themselves, giving authorisation for the person to lodge a complaint on their behalf which includes the relationship with complainant and the reason why the aggrieved person cannot lodge the complaint themselves.

ACKNOWLEDGING YOUR COMPLAINT
The Complaints Handling Officer (CHO) will acknowledge your complaint in writing in your requested medium within 2 business days. In this acknowledgement the CHO will provide:
• The expected timing for processing the complaint, including the maximum period within which the Bank will give a final response;
• The name and contact information of the person within the CHU who will handle your complaint (the CHO);
• A unique tracking number will be communicated to you, who should have a way to follow up on his your complaint, having easy access to the current stage of the complaint’s resolution.

INVESTIGATING COMPLAINTS
Your complaint will be investigated by the CHO in a competent, diligent and impartial manner. Certain telephone lines within the Bank are recorded and may be used to assist in the investigation of any complaints. The CHO may also contact you for further information as they investigate your complaint.

TIMETABLE FOR RESPONDING TO YOU
The CHO aims to resolve your complaints at the earliest possible opportunity. If further investigation is required, the CHO will send you a letter/email acknowledging your complaint and will continue to keep you updated on the progress. The CHO has up to 21 business days to resolve your complaint and send you a final response once they have completed the investigation.

Where a complaint is related to the chargeback process, the CHO has up to 21 business days to resolve your complaint and send you a final response related to the domestic market and 30 business days for complaints related to the international market.

However, if for any reason the CHO is unable to resolve your complaint in this time, the CHO will send you a written explanation and inform you when you can be expected to received our final response. You may continue to wait for us to complete our investigation and send you a full response by the specified date or alternatively, you may refer your complaint to CBS.

RESOLVING COMPLAINTS
Once the Complaints Handling Officer has completed the investigations, they will, within two business days of closing the investigation, provide you a full response detailing the following:
• An Overview of the complaint;
• Points which have been considered;
• The outcome of the investigation;
• Any applicable remedies and the minimum timeframe for consumer to revert with agreement on the remedy;
• Reference to the Consumer Complaint Process.

If the CHO decides that your complaint should be upheld and that some form of redress is appropriate, an offer will be made to you. In this case the CHO will always aim to put you back in the position you should have been in, but where this is not possible the CHO will provide you with an offer of alternative, but fair, redress. If you accept our proposal, the CHO will act promptly to take the actions in our offer and confirm to you when this is complete.

REFERRING YOUR COMPLAINT TO CENTRAL BANK OF SEYCHELLES
If the CHO has not been able to resolve your complaint within 8 weeks or you are not satisfied with the resolution of your complaint, you can refer your complaint to the CBS which will independently review the complaint.

You can find out more about the CBS’ Consumer Complaint Process at: https://www.cbs.sc/Consumer/ConsumerComplaint.html .

Alternatively, please find their contact details below:

• Telephone – by calling +248 428 2000 and requesting for the Financial Inclusion & Market Conduct Division.
• In person – by visiting the CBS and requesting to see an employee from the Financial Inclusion & Market Conduct Division.


Online Complaint Submission Form

Download Consumer Complaint Form (Manual)