Business / Companies
Trust Bank pulls out of ZimSwitch
11 Apr 2013 at 11:40hrs | Views
Trust Bank lurched into crisis this week after it failed to produce full-year results to December 31 2012 before the deadline.
The ZSE and the Securities Commission said this week letters had been sent to Trust seeking explanation.
ZimSwitch, an electronic funds switch for Zimbabwe which processes domestic card-based automated teller machines (ATMs) and point of sale (POS) transactions among member banks.
The move effectively meant that Trust Bank customers could not transact using other banks' ATMs, or buy using the POS systems of other banks.
Trust Bank's's corporate communications manager, Gloria Mutekwa, said the decision to withdraw from ZimSwitch was made to "protect customers".
"When you withdraw through other banks you are charged $2,30 but if they use our ATMs, it costs about $1. So we said if we can settle ZimSwitch, why not avail the money in our ATMs," she said.
But customers were in fact infuriated by the move, which limited their access to money deposited in Trust Bank, which has itself battled to give customers cash due to a liquidity crunch.
A run on deposits has hit the bank since the January 2013 Monetary Policy Statement which revealed that Trust Bank was one of the few undercapitalised banks, according to well placed sources.
The panic heightened last week when depositors found Trust Bank ATMs without cash, while the banking halls were also not disbursing cash to those making withdrawals.
The ZSE and the Securities Commission said this week letters had been sent to Trust seeking explanation.
ZimSwitch, an electronic funds switch for Zimbabwe which processes domestic card-based automated teller machines (ATMs) and point of sale (POS) transactions among member banks.
The move effectively meant that Trust Bank customers could not transact using other banks' ATMs, or buy using the POS systems of other banks.
Trust Bank's's corporate communications manager, Gloria Mutekwa, said the decision to withdraw from ZimSwitch was made to "protect customers".
"When you withdraw through other banks you are charged $2,30 but if they use our ATMs, it costs about $1. So we said if we can settle ZimSwitch, why not avail the money in our ATMs," she said.
But customers were in fact infuriated by the move, which limited their access to money deposited in Trust Bank, which has itself battled to give customers cash due to a liquidity crunch.
A run on deposits has hit the bank since the January 2013 Monetary Policy Statement which revealed that Trust Bank was one of the few undercapitalised banks, according to well placed sources.
The panic heightened last week when depositors found Trust Bank ATMs without cash, while the banking halls were also not disbursing cash to those making withdrawals.
Source - fingaz
