The first thing you will learn as soon as you start to engage in a bid of cross-border trade, be it traditional importing and exporting or something as novel as foreign currency trading, is that being Zimbabwean sucks. On one hand, you have international fintech companies that want nothing to do with you and on the other hand, you have a Zimbabwean government that is only interested in liberating you of your foreign currency and nothing else.
A country of financial lepers
If you are a Zimbabwean business, especially a small business, that wants to sell goods and services to international buyers there is no easy way to receive payments. Most popular gateway such as PayPal and Stripe are not available at your disposal. To this day Zimbabwean PayPal accounts will only allow you to send and not receive money. No clear explanation has been given as to why this is the case.
Skrill which was a favoured alternative to PayPal especially amongst Zimbabwe’s thriving, foreign currency trading community will be shutting down Zimbabwean accounts this month. No explanation was given except the usual platitudes and apologies. They follow the footsteps of others including Netteller.
For a while, Zimbabweans found refuge in bitcoin and they did well too. We had a thriving exchange in Golix and for a moment they looked like they were going to go places until one sultry morning the government woke up in a foul mood and put an end to it all by ordering banks to stop dealing with crypto-exchanges and everything just crumbled to dust.
FNB Non-resident account to the rescue
While it will not solve all the above problems, a South African Non-resident account, such as the ones offered by FNB can solve a number of them. The account does come with limitations but having an account domiciled in South Africa can open doors that would have otherwise been shut in your face had you tried to talk about Zimbabwean accounts.
Here are some things you can do with the FNB account:
- You can open a South African based Skrill account and withdraw your Skrill earnings to your FNB account
- You can receive Adsense earnings into that account
- Receive wire/international transfers from companies such as Wise into that account
- Make local payments and do online shopping in South Africa using their debit card
- Send Ewallet payments
- Do local transfers
- Make international transfers and payments
A very important restriction to note is that you cannot receive Rand payments into your account unless you can prove that there is a legitimate reason why you need to receive Rand payments e.g. you have a South African house you are renting out and need the tenants to deposit your money into that account.
How to open a FNB Non-Resident Account?
First you need the following documents:
- A Recent certified payslip or proof of income, you can use the bank account below instead
- Certified copy of passport
- Three months latest bank statements from your bank abroad.
- Proof of physical address aboard, not older than 3 months
Once you have these you need to physically go to an FNB branch to begin proceedings. This is a trivial process but there could be a snag. Some FNB branches may not be aware of the process or even that the account exists so you need to visit a big branch. If your application is accepted, you will need to make the initial deposit in Rand. Remember this is a USD account.
Things to bear in mind
If you think the RBZ and ZIMRA are strict, you have never met the South African Reserve Bank and SARS. You should never try to break the conditions of your account and always make sure your money is coming from a clear source of funds. Do not attempt to use the account for nefarious purposes such as evading tax or externalisation.
The account cannot receive local transfers or deposits. You cannot deposit money at an ATM into that account. It has to be funded from international sources with some of the above-outlined exceptions. The account cannot receive Rand deposits unless you get prior permission for this to happen. It’s basically an account for you to receive foreign payments into. You can however make local payments yourself e.g. pay DSTV or some local account.
The account is not cheap. It comes with monthly account fees of about R200 i.e. US$14. As I said not cheap. But if you do a lot of international business and want a clearing account to handle your international transactions without worrying about being ambushed by our unpredictable authorities, this is an account to have.
Again here is a disclaimer, the above advice is meant to help you grow your business and not stash money in some foreign account and hide it for unlawful purposes. FNB will freeze your account. They have done so in the past to other Zimbabweans and demanded that those with money in those accounts explain themselves after noticing suspicious activities.
Can one make withdrawals from the account?
Yes you can make withdrawals from the account,however, most of the claims made by this article are from an uninformed perspective regarding how this account really operates.You are not encouraged to receive direct rand payments into the account for example,it only accepts forex wires which you still cant withdraw as forex.It will be converted from forex to rand transactional account first,then from rand account to forex again,you lose a lot through this seemingly unnecessary process,that’s the law anyway.If someone makes a direct rand payment into your account,it will be frozen by the algorithms,it takes you doing a lot of formal justifications to access the funds.
Lastly,you cant buy online or do international payments using this card as it is only limited to transact within South Africa.
I found it inconvenient on some aspects of banking but it also served me well with my forex salary being wired directly into that account.I had to apply for a SAn work permit so that the account can be converted to a normal one,only then I started to enjoy all the convenience of banking and doing international transactions online.Unless the policy has changed recently,this is the position of non resy banking.
Hi,
Thank you for the contributions and clarifications. It’s true, the account can only receive USD or Forex payments, a fact that I cleary state multiple times in the article. According to FNB, you can receive Rand payments if you justify the receipts. There is a misconception that this account is only meant for Zimbabweans and foreigners. It’s also meant for South African expats e.g you leave SA and are in a foreign country where you have been living for a while but want to receive money locally. For example, get paid rent on your SA property. So you can receive Rands as long as there is a stated reason.
You can buy online as long as you are buying locally e.g. Takealot or paying SA business such as webhosts, DSTV etc.
Thank you for the eye opening article. Please confirm if l can make withdrawals from the account at an atm, in the bank or cash bank at supermarkets in SA?
You can but there are rirdiculous limits and restrictions on this account. Think twice before going for it. Getting money out of this account is a huge problem unless you are just transacting very small figures.
Point of correction. After using one, the limits worked fine.
Is it possible to open the account at any branches near the border like Limpopo province or Messina?
Live in Zimbabwe want online ATM visa card $us garrygoddard@earth.co.zw
RrğArds
Gsrry Goddard
263773703996
Yes indeed, it’s actually surprising that branches like messina know more about the account compared to other inland branches. They only need your passport which should be stamped to show that you used an authorised port of entry. And a minimum deposit of 20USD only. No need of other paperwork like proof of residence and bank statement. Just your passport and USD cash.
Hie Ephaaz is this statement true …I really need to.open the account and i could be on my way right now …so just for assurance please confirm if nothing has changed since you posted this …
Point of correction, you can send and receive money from PayPal Business account in Zimbabwe.
I am aware that the Zimbabwean PayPal business account exists but it’s an aberration, a bug that exists in PayPal rather than an actual feature. It’s only available in certain instances for example when you choose to upgrade your personal account after following a link. I would not use it under any circumstances.
I tried opening the business account but still cannot receive money from other PayPal users. Is there something I missed.
The non res business account cannot receive paypal funds.
Can somebody brief me on how it works when you receive a wire transfer on your FnB non resident account. I received my money in usd and it asked me to authorize the release of funds l just did but now this money hasn’t been debited to my balance.
My second question is what is your advice on how to withdraw money from this account while l am in the US. Again how can you send this money via money gram, western union or world remit from this fnb non resident account
I have been investing on the JSE since I was a student in SA six years ago. I am back in Zimbabwe and do not have a valid study permit anymore. I would like to move those funds into a bank account. Would a non resident account be suitable, as the funds are in ZAR?
Can do but opt for a non resident business account instead. Also know that there are huge limits and restrictions when trying to get that money out either via EFT or cash withdrawals. Anything above R5k wont work – at least per my experience with one.
Point of correction. It doesnt seem like limits are an issue. Ive used one and the limits worked fine.
hello Cornelius can i have your contact would love to link up and exchange notes on JSE investing. here is my contact: 0787450940. Im based in Zimbabwe
Currently using this account. Most of what the article has said is true. I also realised that you can’t withdraw from ATMs in Zimbabwe as I was declined that once in Zim on vacation. I don’t know about using western union or world remit.
Is anyone using a Payoneer debit card or any other USD or GBP international card in Zim via ATMs and POS?
I use my Payoneer Debit card on Zim ATMs. I usually use Ecobank ATMs.
Hello, I wanted to know if this non resident account can receive payments from PayPal?
I would be interested to know too.
No it doesn’t. It cant do any international transactions. FNB has support for Paypal but not for non res accounts. This account is close to useless. Strongly consider before opening one.
Thank you very much for this excellent article
What will be your address on your bank statements (your foreign address or a new South African address)?
Thank you very much for this excellent article
What will be your address on your bank statements (your foreign address or a new South African address)?
It will be your Zim adress.
Can u link this card to tiktok and youtube adsense Google account
Alternatively you can open a Hello Paisa account when you visit SA and their Co branded bank called Sasfin , receive rands , make payments , deposits , use card online .
I need to open an account so I can make withdrawals through FTMO, any idea if this will work
Hie i saw a reply earlier concerning non resident accounts and someone mentioned that in musina they only require your passport and cash only is this factual ?
Yes its true
I am street vendor n from Zimbabwe so I wanted to nor that I can open an account with fnb for ma savings that I make a day it’s possible o nt
philmonmukanyangi@gmail.com