Barclays Bank Zim suspends Visa transactions as Cash Crisis bites

Barclays Zimbabwe has suspended all local Visa card transactions due to the worsening cash crisis, according to a report by ITWeb Africa.

A senior executive at Barclays Zimbabwe, Valeta Mthimkulu, said “it didn’t make sense anymore” for the bank to support Visa transactions with liquid cashouts to card holders.

“When you use your Visa card locally, as a bank we need to settle the transaction account through our offshore Nostro account.

“Given the issues around foreign currency and exchange developments in Zimbabwe at the moment, it didn’t make sense anymore to pay for local purchases using (an) offshore account,” said Mthimkulu.

But, outside the country, Visa card holders can still access their money. Zimbabwe was hit by a cash crisis from April this year, forcing banks to severely limit cash withdrawals.

Several local banks, among them CABS, Steward Bank, NMB Bank Limited, POSB and ZB Bank have already suspended incoming wire transfers in US dollars, while the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is now limiting cash exports to $1,000.

Source-Nehanda Radio