PAYNET, a subsidiary of Mauritian financial services
provider Payserv Africa, has suspended all local financial institutions from
its transacting platform after they refused to pay in foreign currency for its
services.
This has had the knock-on effect on RTGS payments. Paynet
is the platform used in interbank RTGS transfers. The platform is also used by
corporates to facilitate its payments.
The standoff is the latest indication of a worsening
economic crisis characterised by a debilitating liquidity crunch, foreign
currency shortages, rising inflation, power outages and low productivity.
The development means that there will be limited movement
of funds during the standoff, which will affect the general public’s
transactions.
The development could also affect the payment on time of
salaries to civil servants. Government starts paying its workers mid-month.
In a statement this week, Paynet said they had cut off all
banks from using its platform because of their failure to pay for its services.
“We regret to inform our valued clients that Payserv Africa
have suspended Paynet services to all banks due to non-payment of service
fees,” Paynet said.
“If you would like to continue using Paynet, please contact
your bank and request they address this with Payserv Africa to have service
reinstated.”
A senior banking official told businessdigest that they
cannot pay for the services of Paynet for carrying out transactions in RTGS.
“Various discussions have been held over the issue to try
and find middle ground,” the official noted.
“It does not make sense for us to pay the service provider
in foreign currency when we process transactions in RTGS. Paynet has cut off
all banks from their platforms which is probably to pressurise us to accept its
proposition for us to pay for its services in foreign currency. ”
Another banking official said they are now looking at other
modalities to avert a national crisis, which include looking for an alternative
service provider who will charge in RTGS dollars.
“We feel that Paynet has tried to turn customers against
banks by asking them to contact us over its decisions to cut us off which is a
move in bad faith,” he said.
The development is a culmination of the depreciation of the
country’s local currency which continues to rapidly erode against the United
States dollar. Yesterday the US dollar was trading at 1:9 with the RTGS dollar
on the parallel market.
The country’s local currency has been in a free-fall since
Reserve Bank governor John Mangudya announced in October last year the
separation of RTGS and foreign currency accounts. The situation is further
aggravated by the central bank’s decision in February this year to adjust the
exchange rate from 1:1 to 1:2,5.
This has resulted in most service providers and retail
shops demanding payment in the US dollar or at the RTGS equivalent at a time
the disposable income of most Zimbabweans has remained stagnant.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced last week that his
government is working on introducing a new local currency and abandoning the
use of the multi-currency regime which has been operating for the last decade. Zimbabwe
Independent
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