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Fuel Coupons for Chequebook Deals
Nov 10, 2008 (Zimbabwe Standard/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --
Customers at one of the country's leading commercial banks now have to pay for their cheque books in fuel coupons directly to the printers.
Investigations by Standard-business show that the bank is referring account holders' to cheque book suppliers, Paragon Business Form in Masasa, which demands payment in fuel coupons.
The printers demand US$20 or a 20-litre coupon of fuel. For personal accounts, one gets four 50-page books. After paying the supplier, a company will get three 100-page books.
Account holders who spoke to Standard- business said the system had destroyed the relationship between the account holder and the bank established when the account was opened.
Inquiries at other banks have revealed that the institutions were debiting account holders who request new cheque books.
But executives in the banking industry last week said the settlement system was in disarray as most suppliers were now demanding payment in foreign currency, notwithstanding that some had not been licenced to deal in foreign currency by the central bank.
They cautioned that the charges levied by banks were too little to sustain the issuance of cheque books.
Last month, the central bank ordered banks to reverse the charges they were levying on account holders but industry players feel the $1 000 fee is unsustainable.
Cheques have become the mode of payment due to unsustainable cash withdrawal limits that hardly meet the demands of citizens.
The banks said they were referring clients on the understanding that they were providing an alternative for clients to get cheque books.
The banks said they were not aware that account holders were being asked to pay US$20 or a 20-litre fuel coupon.
The revelation that some banks were requiring account holders to pay in foreign currency or coupons comes against the backdrop of concerns by monetary authorities that financial institutions were ripping off clients.
Last month the Reserve Bank Governor, Dr Gideon Gono cracked the whip on the financial sector saying their unjustified bank charges "are way above salaries earned by majority of banking institutions' customers, a phenomenon which is detrimental to banks' mandate of financial intermediation".
Gono said while banks needed to cover operational costs some of their charges were unjustified.
"The charges levied by some banking institutions on their various products and services, however, demonstrate unacceptable predatory practices," Gono said.
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