Some customers unable to access their salaries

The suspension of all Standard Bank activities involving the conversion of foreign currency in Mozambique is leaving clients with foreign currency accounts without access to their salaries, people affected by the measure told Lusa.

“We receive salaries through these accounts, and now they are blocked. In our case, most of the workers at our institution have accounts at Standard Bank and receive [their salaries] in foreign currency. Now nobody is able to touch their money,” said one bank client, who requested anonymity. At issue is the decision by the Bank of Mozambique, announced a week ago, to suspend Standard Bank from all activities involving the conversion of foreign currency in the foreign exchange market, following “findings obtained during an on-site inspection in progress”, according to a statement from the regulator, which does not provide further details. Another bank customer affected by the suspension, who also requested anonymity, told Lusa that the problem was aggravated by a lack of information from the bank, adding that he only realised the seriousness of the situation after visiting the bank two days after the central bank’s announcement. 

“I went to the bank and they told me that one solution was to open an account at another bank so that the amounts could be transferred. But my money is in that account and I don’t have any other bank. I will have to try to open one, but in the meantime how am I going to survive?” he asked. 

Lusa contacted Standard Bank, whose management met yesterday. They promised a statement soon. Data from the Mozambican central bank released in April pointed to Standard Bank as the third on the list of three banks of systemic importance in Mozambique, in a list led by Banco Comercial e de Investimentos (BCI), with the International Bank of Mozambique (Millennium Bim) in the second position. In the ratio that measures the importance for the sector, known by its English acronym D-SIB, BCI tops the list with 278 points, followed by Millennium Bim with 257 and Standard Bank with 159.