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The payment account with basic features (basic account) is intended for all consumers legally residing in Montenegro. 

All credit institutions in Montenegro are required to offer their consumers the option of opening and using a basic account, in accordance with the Law on Comparability of Fees Related to Consumer Payment Accounts, Payment Accounts Switching and Payment Account with Basic Features. 

Right to a Basic Account

Every consumer who legally resides in Montenegro has the right to open and use a basic account, regardless of their place of residence. This right also applies to:

• persons with no fixed address;
• asylum seekers;
• persons who have not been granted a residence permit, if their expulsion is impossible for legal or factual reasons.

Services Included in the Basic Account 

The basic account enables: 

• opening, operating, and closing of the account; 
• cash deposits into the account; 
• cash withdrawals from the account at a counter or at automated teller machines;
• execution of payment transactions, including: 
  • direct debits;
  • payment card transactions, including online payments;
  • credit transfers and standing orders at the counter, via terminals, and through electronic banking, when such a service is available.

The credit institution is required to provide the basic account holder with an unlimited number of these services and payment transactions under the same conditions as users of other payment accounts.

Overdraft facilities (authorized overdrawing) are not permitted on a basic account. 

Fees for the Basic Account 

Credit institutions may charge reasonable fees for services provided within the framework of the basic account, but they cannot be higher than the fees charged for the same services on other payment accounts. 

Credit institutions are required to publish the schedule of fees for the basic account in their business premises and on their website.

Basic Account for Vulnerable Consumer Groups

Consumers belonging to vulnerable groups have the right to a basic account under special conditions. 

Vulnerable Consumer Groups Include: 

• beneficiaries of the minimum wage;
• beneficiaries of the minimum old-age, disability or survivors’ pension, beneficiaries of such pensions who receive the difference up to the minimum pension amount, and beneficiaries of proportional pensions (old-age, disability or survivors’ pensions) who receive the difference up to the minimum amount in accordance with the law governing pension and disability insurance, as well as recipients of temporary benefits registered with the Employment Agency who receive benefits paid by the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund up to the amount of the minimum pension;
• child allowance beneficiaries;
• beneficiaries of material security; 
• personal disability allowance beneficiaries; 
• care and assistance allowance beneficiaries;
• beneficiaries of monetary compensation based on unemployment insurance, in accordance with the law.

For these consumers, the credit institution is obliged to provide free of charge: 

• opening, operating, and closing of the basic account; 
• cash deposits into the account;
• cash withdrawals from the account; 
• the first 10 national payment transactions during the month.

For other payment services, the credit institution may charge a fee, but it must not exceed 70% of the fee charged to other basic account holders. 

Consumer Protection 

If you believe that the credit institution has not acted in accordance with the law, you have the right to submit a complaint to the credit institution.

If you are not satisfied with the response of the credit institution or if the credit institution has failed to act in accordance with regulations, you can protect your rights by submitting a complaint to the Central Bank of Montenegro, as well as through alternative dispute resolution, in accordance with the law.