How do Zimbabwe’s prepaid US$ card fees stack up against one another?

Valentine Muhamba Avatar
Bank cards, Visa, MasterCard, Prepaid Card, account open local curency, bank charges ZWL

Zimbabwe has a number of prepaid card (VISA or MasterCard) options for those who want to buy things online, pay for services like DStv or are frequent travellers. Here’s a comparison of some of the prepaid options available and what they will cost over a number of categories.

The list of fees won’t directly compare because some of the categories may not be listed by the respective bank. We will be looking at BancABC’s prepaid VISA, FBC’s MasterCard, CABS’ prepaid MasterCard, and Steward prepaid Globetrotter VISA.

Prepaid card requirements

CABS, Steward and FBC have on thing in common and that is they have more extensive KYC requirements. You’ll have to provide a copy of your identification document, a proof of residence, fill in an application form and a couple of photos.

BancABC, on the other hand, you can do it from home through the bank’s Dial-A-Visa program. All you need to is call Branch X and request a VISA card and they will deliver it to you. You’ll need to give the messenger a copy of your ID and fill in a form when they arrive.

We are under the assumption that transactions include the 2% IMMT

Card Issuing fees

BankBancABCCABS MasterCardFBC MasterCardSteward VISAEcoBank VISAStanbic VISAZB VISA
FeeUS$5.00 (US$5 for the card and the other as a deposit)US$5.00 (minimum initial deposit of US$50.00)US$5.00 (total card application fee is US$20 the rest goes into the account)US$ 10.00US$25.00 (US$5 for the card & application and US$20 deposit)US$5.00 (Only Issued to Stanbic Bank account holders)Minimum deposit of US$20 (card issuing fee not specified)

Prepaid card service fee

BankBancABCCABS MasterCardFBC MasterCardSteward VISAEcoBank VISAStanbic VISAZB VISA
FeeUS$0.50 per monthnot specifiednonenot specifiednonenot specifiednot specified

Prepaid card deposit fee

BankBancABCCABS MasterCardFBC MasterCardSteward VISAEcoBank VISAStanbic VISAZB VISA
Feenonenot specified2.5% of amount depositedUS$1.005% Bank Chargenot specifiedno charge

Insufficient funds fee

BankBancABCCABS MasterCardFBC MasterCardSteward VISAEcoBank VISAStanbic VISAZB VISA
FeeUS$0.30not specifiednoneUS$0.50nonenot specifiednone

POS/Swipe online transaction charge

BankBancABCCABS MasterCardFBC MasterCardSteward VISAEcoBank VISAStanbic VISAZB VISA
Fee1% Min US$11% of purchase amount (plus 5c stamp duty)1.88% of amount1.75% of transaction value with minimum $2 and a maximum of $1002.5% minimum US$103 % of the purchase amountUS$1.75 for transactions up to US$175.00

And over US$175.00 it’s 1% of the amount

(so basically 1% of amount transacted)

Cash withdrawal same bank ATM

BankBancABCCABS MasterCardFBC MasterCardSteward VISAEcoBank VISAStanbic VISAZB VISA
FeeUS$2.50US$2.5 plus 1.5% of withdrawn amount (plus 5c stamp duty)3% minimum US$3.503% minimum $3.503% of amount being withdrawn2% of amount being withdrawn min US$2.00US$5.00 flat fee

Cash withdrawal other banks (local) ATM fee

BankBancABCCABS MasterCardFBC MasterCardSteward VISAEcoBank VISAStanbic VISAZB VISA
FeeUS$2.50US$2.5 plus 1.5% of withdrawn amount (plus 5c stamp duty)3% minimum US$3.503% minimum US$3.503% of amount being withdrawn2% of amount being withdrawn min US$2.00US$5.00 flat fee

Cash withdrawal other banks (international) ATM fee

BankBancABCCABS MasterCardFBC MasterCardSteward VISAEcoBank VISAStanbic VISAZB VISA
Fee1.5% min US$2.50US$2.5 plus 1.5% of withdrawn amount (plus 5c stamp duty)3% minimum US$3.50 (there is a 3% conversion fee if withdrawing in a currency that is not US$)3% minimum $3.503% of amount being withdrawn2% of amount being withdrawn min US$2.00US$5.00 flat fee

Prepaid card to card transfer fee

BankBancABCCABS MasterCardFBC MasterCardSteward VISAEcoBank VISAStanbic VISAZB VISA
FeeUS$1.00not specifiedUS$5.002% min US$2.00not specifiedUS$2.000.5% of the value min US$40 max US$150

Prepaid card to account transfer fee

BankBancABCCABS MasterCardFBC MasterCardSteward VISAEcoBank VISAStanbic VISAZB VISA
FeeUS$1.00not specifiedn/an/anot specifiednot specifiednot specified

The one notable omission from this list is EcoCash’s virtual MasterCard. We were told by EcoCash customer services that they are no longer issuing new virtual cards.

You should also check out the episode of Technikari where went back and forth about which card between FBC and BancABC’s prepaid card is the better one:

Technikari Ep4: Why doesn’t Zim have it’s own WhatsApp?, the best USD prepaid card & best local online store

18 comments

  1. Candy

    In one of your Technikari podcast, you were so biased on FBC Prepaid Mastercard. BancABC is way better than all the other cards you are comparing it to based on transaction costs, i have used the others and i must say BancABC will save u money but the downside is branch network which is limited compared to CABS and FBC. Even if BancABC charges you 50c as monthly service fee, it will be absorbed by the savings you accrue on less transaction charges acrosa board.

  2. Joe

    This was long overdue…what were you guys doing this whole time?👀

  3. Andrew Manyore

    could you please compare with Stanbic Bank

  4. FBC Client

    Doesn’t fbc charge USD3 for every online payment transaction? When i signed up for AWS and amazon did the USD1 transactions to verify my account I noticed i lost USD3 at the same time. I think its mentioned somewhere on their site that they charge min $3 per transaction if I’m not mistaken which is why I didn’t call their customer services. I stand to be corrected.

    1. Anonymous

      Its true they actually do that, they charge $3 to 4USD for every transaction they are quite expensive FBC mastercard if you ask me. What it was initially is not what it used to be. Even the 2.5% charge for depositing why are they charhing us for putting money into an account, doesn’t make sense to me.

      Initially there was never a charge, also yhey told me they dont charge anything when switching money to another card when it expires. My card expired and I was charged 5$ for getting another card. The fact that i wanted to withdraw my money, when it expired they tried to stop me. I then got the new card just in case but in terms of using it, rarely do i put money in there anymore.

  5. Mutorwa Murambadoro

    You left out the ZB and Eco Bank Visa cards

    I will go with eco Bank though

  6. Anonymous

    Banc ABC downside is when you make a Rand transaction with a USD Visa, the exchange rate is super crazy

    1. Tsigo Topsoil

      But BancABC has a specific Rand VISA card for rand transactions you can use that instead of risking the official rates

  7. Anonymous

    Steward Bank Visa Card Issance fee is $6 and not the $10 stated which includes a $4 deposit.

  8. Anonymous

    Techzim is a proxy mouthpiece for Lance Mambondiani

  9. TheGuy

    The ecocash Mastercard 💳 remains the cheapest. No need for a physical card. You can create a virtual card and make payments online in all ways.
    No minimum deposit. Go to any Econet shop or cabin booth and deposit your forex and it’s done. Have been using it to pay on Alibaba, Playstore, Linking to PayPal, Western Union etc

    1. Anonymous

      Which number do you use, like what’s the account number?

    2. Jurgen Huber

      pay 10×1 dollar and 30 dollar are gone from your account you pay for a app 1.99 you pay 2 dollar transaction fee 100%plus thats simple robbery

  10. Anonymous

    From the comments writer. It seems you are going to need to edit thisbarticle and include. EcoBank, Stanbic Bank, Nedbank, And Ecocash Virtual Card, versus Ecocash Mastercard also. Extra info is needed.

  11. taps million

    i used steward bank for 2 years until i changing to banc abc,my take based on my experiance is sterward bank is a ripoff and i lost so much money over time because they charge more than they say,but with bancabc it was a small problem of getting the card to work but my patience has payed i only get charged a buck for my transaction which is way unbeleivable

  12. Anesu

    Is the BancABC one fully international?

  13. Precious Naiti

    can i withdraw cash from my banc abc visa card if it is transferred into the caed?

  14. Man-Joe

    Steward bank is the best for me so far comparing in to the ZB visa debit card. Steward bank visa prepaid consists of 3d secure otp when paying online where as the ZB card does not have any security. I actually swiped for goods at ok msrt without entering any pin. Terrible. I’m yet to try the cabs MasterCard, FBC, bank abv, nmb, Nedbank and stanbic debit

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