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Ecobank VISA prepaid has no charges for first US$500 in transactions till 31/01/2021

Valentine Muhamba Avatar

Valentine Muhamba

Ecobank

A couple of weeks ago we compared the charges of some of the Prepaid US$ VISA/MasterCards in Zimbabwe. On that list, there were a few Prepaid US$ services that were missing. The most notable and highly requested one was EcoBank’s VISA card. Well, that service has caught out attention because back in December EcoBank announced that there were going to be no charges for the first US$500.00 online and POS transactions over the festive season till the 31st of January 2021.

This definitely puts EcoBank as one of the front runners when we compare all prepaid US$ cards but how does it compare in other categories? (aside from this promotion)

EcoBank VISA vs the rest

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 VISA ZB 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FeeUS$2.50US$2.5 plus 1.5% of withdrawn amount (plus 5c stamp duty)3% minimum US$3.503% minimum $3.503% of amount being withdrawn2% of amount being withdrawn min US$2.00US$5.00 flat fee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 withdrawn 2% 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.

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3 comments

  1. Anony

    Thank you Techzim. This is very insightful in a world where online payment for Entertainment have taken Zim by Storm

  2. Roy

    It’s BancABC vs Ecobank on this one. I have beef with FBC for charging a deposit fee, like wtf

  3. Fafi

    Thanks so much for this. How about throwing in the EcoCash card for comparison?

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