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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
The country’s oldest financial institution, the People’s Own Savings Bank (POSB) is working on a raft of measures to simplify banking and ease cash shortages for pensioners.
Officially opening the bank’s Beitbridge brach today, General Manager banking operations Mr Lawrence Munashe Kupika said they were working on increasing their client base to 1, 1 million account holders by the end of next year. He said they currently have one million account holders countrywide.
Mr Kupika said they were creating a number of packages to attract new clients including giving special preference to the elderly and pensioners on cash allocations inn their branches. The official said they were still engaging the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) with the view of operating pension payments points where the apex bank will provide funds for such a facility.
“We have noticed that the banking public mostly pensioners, the elderly and children are having challenges accessing money (grants) at most banking institutions. The worst affected are those from a rural set up,” said Mr Kupika.
“As a stop gap measure we are going to provide a special facility to improve access to cash by this group, through the provision of such services via agents in various centres and businesses.
In essence, we want to reserve as special funds for them and currently we are still engaging the RBZ for the green light to open pensioners’ payment points across the country where we move around facilitate withdrawals by this group of people at their convenience.
“So far we have 36 branches countrywide, but the whole idea is to widen our coverage through agencies at low cost services”.
Beitbridge District Development Coordinator, Mrs Sikhangeziwe Mafu-Moyo said the opening of the branch will help address the challenges in that vast district were most people had no access to banking services.
“This is a step in the right direction as we move towards improving access to basics services and improving equal access of resources by people mostly the rural areas.
“We hope other financial institutions will follow in POSB’s footsteps,” said Mrs Mafu-Moyo.
Beitbridge has an estimated population of 250 000 with two thirds resident in its rural component.
Online Reporter