Today a notice appeared in the Herald that stated that Standard Chartered had cancelled, with immediate effect, the use of their Visa cards outside Zimbabwe, with clients needing to seek prior approval 72 hrs before departure. This has proved not yet to extend to online payments, though the fear and concern has been that this was a directive from the central bank to effect such measures.
Techzim contacted the RBZ to seek clarity as to whether they had in fact issued this instruction, not only to Standard Chartered, but to all the other banks.
The Central Bank advises that this is an internal measure that the Standard Chatered bank is embarking upon to manage their supply of foreign currency. The RBZ has issued a priority list to banks as to what payments they should prioritise and this most probably is Standard Chartered, who may have noticed that their client’s use of Visa cards are going against that priority list, hence their actions.
Most local banks have not banned the use of cards per se, however, they’ve matched one’s payments and/or withdrawals to the levels that prevail in Zimbabwe. That is, if your bank allows you a daily withdrawal of $100/day, that same limit will prevail when you’ve travelled or are trying to make online payments.
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4 comments
If you remove your burning clothes and the person who set them on fire says – I didn’t tell him to remove his clothes – what would be your conclusion? The RBZ needs to stop acting like we are that foolish.
ZVONGO NETSA HAZVO. BUT WE WILL STILL FIND A WAY TO STILL PAY FOR WHAT WE NEED TO PAY FOR OUTSIDE OUR BORDERS. TOENDA KU CHURCH ASI HAAA TESE TANGOVE VANHU VANOGURA MUTEMO. ZVOTODINI
still shows some cracks are showing cz the only reason most people left money was to pay online or have the ability to withdraw dollars now if those two are gone then we start to have issues.
The rbz & government should know that the economy does not benefit from regular shift in policies at short intervals. No wonder why investors will not invest in this country it does not inspire any confidence, just my two cents!