Mobile money agents lines are now permanently banned: RBZ

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has permanently abolished mobile money agents lines. This means that EcoCash, OneMoney and TeleCash agents are officially a thing of the past.

This was announced by the central bank during today’s Monetary Policy Statement.

The RBZ abolished the agent lines with immediate effect arguing that they no longer serve any purpose. They also alleged that the agent lines were being used for illicit financial transactions, primarily illegal foreign currency exchange transactions.

Agent wallets are no longer serving any legitimate purpose and were now being used primarily for illegal foreign exchange transactions. Agents’ mobile money wallets are therefore abolished, with immediate effect.

The monetary policy statement went on to state that all the agents who had their money frozen when the RBZ suspended all agent lines, will be allowed to move the money to their bank accounts. However, there is a caveat. The agents will only be able to reclaim their money once they have managed to satisfy the RBZ’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) that the funds have been legitimately earned.