Sending/Receiving Diaspora Money? Steward Bank Says You Can Still Do During Lockdown

Four days into the lockdown and there are still questions, lots of them. One of the questions has to do with whether or not sending money to relatives in Zimbabwe is possible during the 21 days. The more important version of that question is whether it’s possible for the relatives to receive the money sent to them.

Simple answer, yes

Steward Bank says yes during lockdown people in the diaspora can send money home and yes people in Zimbabwe can receive it. Senders across the globe can still send through remittances channels.

Since, Steward Bank customers cannot go to the bank during lockdown like this, here’s how they get their money:

Receiving to keep

If they want to keep their money as hard currency and perhaps withdraw it after the lockdown, they can receive it into their Steward Bank FCA. The money in individual FCA accounts remains accessible as hard currency when the lockdown ends.

Money received into FCAs is also accessible for international payments via telegraphic transfers. If for example, one wants to buy medicines or other commitments outside our borders they can still do a telegraphic transfer through Steward Bank whilst on lockdown.

Receiving to spend

Of course, most people getting remittances would be receiving the money to use, maybe to buy needed supplies during this lockdown period. Since avoiding cash as much as possible is recommended in the wake of COVID 19, local currency is a current preference for a good number of people. If that’s your situation, you can still receive the money into your FCA. However, you can instruct Steward Bank to liquidate the money (whole or in part) into any ZWL account you want.

Your preferred ZWL account, in this case, doesn’t need to be a Steward Bank account, it can be any local bank account or of course EcoCash. The money will be converted into local currency at the ruling official rate.