FBC Bank has, in a tweet, announced that the daily limit for debit card swipe transactions has been increased.
Good news: Swipe limits have been increased!
— FBC Holdings Limited (@FBCHoldings) September 9, 2021
Now you can swipe for much more with your local FBC debit cards.
Go ahead and transact today!#YouMatterMost pic.twitter.com/IATwpWpasV
Old Limit ZWL$ | New Limit ZWL$ | |
Individual Debit Carts | 150,000 | 300,000 |
Corporate Debit Cards | 50,000 | 500,000 |
Instant Banking Chip Cards | 25,000 | 50,000 |
According to FBC Bank’s tweet, corporates can increase their limit at the branch if they wish. If we are to take that at face value, it means that there might not be an upper limit for corporate debit cards but we will get to that in a minute.
The interesting thing about all this is it seems that debit card swipe limits are different from bank to bank. NMB for example has a daily debit card swipe limit of ZWL$800,000 (ZWL$1,000,000 weekly) for individuals and corporates. While BancABC has a ZWL$500,000 a day swipe limit and First Capital’s is ZWL$300,000 per day for corporates and individuals.
It appears that this is one of the few areas where the banks aren’t heavily micromanaged or restricted by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ). However, it is very likely that there may be a “Rubicon” when it comes to daily swipe transactions. Zimbabwe’s financial sector is profoundly regulated and a portion of it not having a limit, boundaries or regulation in one respect or another, is very very unlikely.