On the first of October 2018, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe ordered banks to create separate Nostro Foreign Currency Accounts (FCAs) and Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) FCA accounts, as part of measures to preserve value for foreign currency earners and to boost market confidence. Since then, banks have been opening FCA Nostro accounts for both existing and new customers. Nostro is “real” USD money, while RTGS accounts include the digital balances and bond notes. This article looks at the Nostro FCA account opening requirements for some of the banks in Zimbabwe.
CABS
The bank is opening Nostro FCAs denominated in Rand (ZAR), US dollar (USD), British pound(GBP) , Euro (EUR) and Pula (BWP) .
Customers opening up a Nostro FCA with CABS are required to draft a formal letter requesting for the account. The letter must include the following:
- Name of customer
- Existing RTGS Account Number(s) & Name
- Nature of their business
- Account currency required and
- Express that, the signing arrangements are as per existing RTGS FCA accounts currently on file.
The Letter must also be signed by the signatories according to mandates held on the RTGS FCA accounts. For the existing bank clients no additional documentation is required.
Customers without existing RTGS FCA will be required to submit duly completed account opening application form accompanied by full Know Your Customer (KYC) documents as follows:
- Copy of ID
- Current proof of residence
- Current payslip or 3 months bank statement for self employed people
- Passport size photo
- Company documents, Tax Clearance for companies
The is no initial deposit required to open a Nostro FCA. However, if the account does not receive a deposit within 90 days from the date of application, the account will be closed. Monthly service fees are $1 for an individual account, and $10 for a business account. Withdrawal charges are 1%. Other transaction charges are inline with business conditions.
Agribank
To open a Nostro FCA with Agribank, new customers have to fill the account opening forms and submit the normal KYC documents. For existing customers, a letter requesting a Nostro FCA is needed, indicating the source of the funds. The initial deposit for individuals is $15 and $25 for companies. The bank charges a monthly fee of $5 for individual accounts and $15 for corporate accounts.
First Capital Bank (Formerly Barclays)
New customers have to fill an account opening form and submit the usual KYC documents. Existing customers have to write a letter requesting for the opening of Nostro FCA and no initial deposit is required. For new customers who want individual FCA Nostro accounts, an initial deposit of $5 is required, and monthly maintenance fees of $2 apply. For new corporate customers, the bank requires an initial deposit of $500 to open Nostro FCA. The monthly charges for a corporate account are $20 and withdrawals are charged at 1.25% per transaction.
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Am not happy with the service charges. In Botswana most banks do not charge service charges on fca accounts. To the contrary one actually gets interest on these accounts. There are no deposit or withdrawal charges. First Capital and Stanbic banks etc are charging service fees of $5 per month. It means every year I have to lose $60 for these banks to keep my money. This is daylight robbery. I would rather keep it under my pillow case.
Any information about FBC nostro accounts, is it the same with the above and after i open the account do i have new password for the accounts or i continue with this of the local account