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Bianca Mlilo, Business Reporter
SCORES of Zimbabweans based in the diaspora who have come home for the festive holidays are failing to access their money at local banks amid reports that Visa and Mastercards banking services have been temporarily disabled.

Zimbabweans travelling to neighbouring countries have also failed to use their Visa and Mastercards outside the country.

The development could severely cripple the festive mood and dent consumer spending, especially by the diaspora community who normally return home in large numbers during the Christmas and New Year Holidays.

Some of the affected depositors who spoke to Business Chronicle said they have been forced to travel to neighbouring countries such as Botswana and South Africa to be able to withdraw cash.

In view of foreign exchange shortages, several banks such as FBC and MBCA recently announced that they had disabled Visa and Mastercards.

“The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe also capped the amount of money one could take out of the country to $5 000.

Miss Joselyn Masara said she travelled to Botswana on Monday this week to buy car parts and could not use her Visa card.

“When I went to Botswana I had no cash on me because I thought I would use my card. Imagine my surprise when my card was declined, alerting me that I did not have sufficient funds to effect any transactions,” she said.

On her return to Zimbabwe, she said, she approached her bank where she was able to withdraw the money.

Mr Ronald Chauke who has been living in the United Kingdom for the past 15 years said he could not withdraw money from a local branch of his bank.

He said he and a number of visiting friends and business associates had also failed on numerous occasions last week to execute transactions on Visa and Mastercard services.

“When I approached the bank, I was told that I could not withdraw money in Zimbabwe. I was told that the bank did not have cash to give me,” said Mr Chauke.

“My Zimbabwean friends said I should have brought my own cash. So, I am now going to Botswana to withdraw money that I have to spend in Zimbabwe,” he said.

The visiting Zimbabweans said banks should have warned them of this new development which they said had greatly inconvenienced them.

A client of FBC Bank who relocated to Malawi got a raw deal when the bank disabled the two cards. His granddaughter, Ms Martha Moyo said when she carried out enquiries on her grandfather’s behalf, she was told that clients could only make use of prepaid cards.

The prepaid cards work like mobile money platforms where one has to cash-in money before they can use it.

“I was told that he can come to Zimbabwe and withdraw his money and there was nothing the Malawian unit could do for him,” said Ms Moyo.

Barclays Bank Zimbabwe head of corporate affairs Mrs Emily Nemapare said their bank was doing transactions on both cards but was dispensing only the South African rand.

An official from MetBank who could not be named for professional reasons said although they had suspended use of the cards, they were “in the process of resuscitating them, and they will be in use probably in January”.

Cash shortages and delays in foreign payments have also affected companies whose businesses rely on imports. This has been linked to depletion of nostro reserves, which are funds for local banks held in foreign accounts.

— @BiancaMlilo.