News / National
Residents slam poor banks service delivery
04 Jul 2019 at 08:08hrs | Views
BULAWAYO residents are complaining about poor service delivery at banks in the city when changing their foreign currency into local currency.
The residents said they are made to wait for long hours before being served.
Long queues started surfacing at banks on Tuesday when the interbank exchange rate surpassed parallel market rates.
Yesterday banks were still offering favourable rates ranging between RTGS$8, 1: US$1 and RTGS8,9: USD$1 while the parallel market rate was at RTGS7,8: USD$1 for electronic transfers and RTGS6:1 for cash.
Customers were moving from one bank to another looking for better rates and shorter queues. T
he longest queues were noted at NMB bank, which was offering part-cash payment to its customers and Steward Bank, which was depositing money into Ecocash accounts.
In separate interviews, residents said while they appreciated the new developments, they were being frustraed by waiting for long hours to be served.
"If the Government really wants to get rid of the black market, banks should improve their service so that people don't spend long hours in queues.
"I joined this queue at 8AM and now its 12PM and I'm still far from being served. It's poor service and it defeats the purpose of trying to kill the black market," said Mr Christopher Masamba from Cowdray Park.
Another customer Ms Patience Ncube said most banks were offering electronic money in exchange for their US dollars yet some clients want cash.
"If I want cash they should give me cash. It should be me who should decide how I should be paid for selling my forex," said Ms Ncube.
The residents said they are made to wait for long hours before being served.
Long queues started surfacing at banks on Tuesday when the interbank exchange rate surpassed parallel market rates.
Yesterday banks were still offering favourable rates ranging between RTGS$8, 1: US$1 and RTGS8,9: USD$1 while the parallel market rate was at RTGS7,8: USD$1 for electronic transfers and RTGS6:1 for cash.
Customers were moving from one bank to another looking for better rates and shorter queues. T
he longest queues were noted at NMB bank, which was offering part-cash payment to its customers and Steward Bank, which was depositing money into Ecocash accounts.
In separate interviews, residents said while they appreciated the new developments, they were being frustraed by waiting for long hours to be served.
"If the Government really wants to get rid of the black market, banks should improve their service so that people don't spend long hours in queues.
"I joined this queue at 8AM and now its 12PM and I'm still far from being served. It's poor service and it defeats the purpose of trying to kill the black market," said Mr Christopher Masamba from Cowdray Park.
Another customer Ms Patience Ncube said most banks were offering electronic money in exchange for their US dollars yet some clients want cash.
"If I want cash they should give me cash. It should be me who should decide how I should be paid for selling my forex," said Ms Ncube.
Source - chronicle
