BancABC Zimbabwe, the local banking subsidiary of Pan African group, Atlas Mara has today launched the City Hopper Service, a smart local remittance service which allows customers to send foreign currency between cities throughout Zimbabwe instantly and safely
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The service is available at all 18 BancABC branches countrywide and through the BancABC kiosks in Pick n Pay stores beginning with the Pick n Pay Aspindale store in which the bank already has a presence. Plans are at an advanced stage to open the service up to all Pick n Pay stores nationwide to increase the collection points across the country.
Speaking at the launch of the product, BancABC CEO Dr. Lance Mambondiani said, “We are launching the City Hopper – a domestic remittance service to address the nationwide challenge of sending foreign currency across the country for the wider public or for those who want to support their families or pay for goods and services and other business activities in foreign currency.”
Dr. Mambondiani added that “With the stabilisation of the foreign currency market in the last few weeks, banks have an important role to play as intermediaries and custodians of trusted platforms. This service offers the safest and quickest way to transfer foreign currency across cities and will address the problem faced by all Zimbabweans in moving money across towns. We are excited to be taking banking to the communities in which we operate together working with our various partners with extensive reach across the country.”
The service is available to all customers whether they bank with BancABC or not. Any person can walk into a BancABC branch and transfer as little as US$10. The sender is simply required to provide an address, phone number, and I.D number on the deposit slip.
The receiver can access the transferred funds instantly, all he or she has to do is go to a BancABC outlet and provide a reference number and a copy of his/her national I.D to cash out the funds.
The City Hopper service is expected to increase the transfer of funds through formal channels similar to the international remittances which use platforms such as World Remit, Western Union, or MoneyGram. The service will provide much-needed relief in the movement of USD across the country especially for the unbanked population who have difficulties sending or receiving USD for some essential services demanding USD payments from some service providers.