FBC Bank has suspended real-time gross settlement RTGS) transfers onto its prepaid MasterCard facility, citing abuse by some customers, as banks tighten cash withdrawal restrictions amid an intensifying banknote crisis.
FBC’s prepaid MasterCard is a debit card that can be used to make both local and international payments as well as withdrawals. The card is not account based and is available to the bank’s depositors and those who do not hold FBC Bank accounts.
Zimbabwe is currently in the throes of a deep dollar shortage, forcing banks to tighten measures. The impeding introduction of local bond notes in October have prompted a run on banks as people fear the return of local currency.
FBC spokesperson Priscilla Sadomba said that some card holders were using the prepaid MasterCard to breach the bank’s cash withdrawal limits.
The bank has daily withdrawal limit of $200.
“As you well know, the nation is currently experiencing cash challenges and Nostro funding limitations. In light of this, maximum daily withdrawal limits have been implemented across the banking sector,” Sadomba said.
“Besides its use locally, the MasterCard is a tool which enables people to transact via the internet and it allows for cash withdrawals and POS (transactions) when outside Zimbabwe. Now what some unscrupulous individuals have been doing, is doing RTGS transfers from their bank accounts onto the prepaid MasterCard,” she said.
Sadomba said card holders would then send their cards outside the country to make cash withdrawals there.
“So in order to stop those individuals who are trying to circumvent the system by double dipping, we have had to implement this measure,” she added.-The Source
Related stories:
Britain warns citizens visiting Zimbabwe about possible cash shortages
IMF to assess impact of introducing bond notes in Zimbabwe
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to force businesses to bank cash
Ecocash to be hit by cash crisis
UK says bond notes could be damaging to confidence in Zimbabwe economy
Multi-currency system is dead says RBZ
Zimbabwean company says “bond notes” are adding to uncertainty
Chinamasa says Zimbabwe will not be a “fishing pond” for US dollars
Zimbabwe hires German firm to print bond notes
Zimbabwe’s bumpy, costly road to a cashless future
The government’s hidden hand in Zimbabwe’s cash crisis
Chinotimba says give people bond coins if they do not like bond notes
Chinamasa tells Parliament that bond notes are above board
Zimbabwe says it needs bond notes because “we are feeding looters”
Zimbabwe scraps plans to convert export earnings into rand, euro
Tsvangirai calls emergency national executive meeting Thursday to decide way forward on bond notes
It’s a stimulus package- Mangudya says
Tsvangirai to convene his cabinet tomorrow to discuss proposed bond notes
Bond notes -a legal perspective
Zimbabwe stems illicit outflows
Cash shortages – the real causes and the wrong diagnosis
New bond notes-key questions answered
Mangudya full statement on the introduction of bond notes
Highlights of RBZ intervention on cash shortages
MDC says Mugabe is bringing back Zimbabwe dollar through the back door
Zimbabwe to introduce bond notes as cash shortages bite
(458 VIEWS)
This post was last modified on %s = human-readable time difference 10:03 am
Zimbabwe’s new currency, the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), firmed against the United States dollars for 10…
Zimbabwe is among the top 30 countries in the world with the widest gap between…
Zimbabwe’s battered currency, the Zimbabwe Gold, which was under attack until the central bank devalued…
Plans by the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front to push President Emmerson Mnangagwa to…
The Zimbabwe government’s insatiable demand for money to satisfy its own needs, which has exceeded…
Economist Eddie Cross says the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) will regain its value if the government…