ALLIED Bank (formerly ZABG) is reportedly on the verge of total collapse with its Bulawayo staff turning customers away and informing them that the bank has no money, and yet the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has allowed it to continue trading.
The financial institution was earlier this year reported to be under the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) surveillance amid concerns that it could be facing insolvency problems under limited operations at 15th Avenue branch.
The bank is owned by Transport minister Obert Mpofu, who was recently appointed secretary for finance in the ruling Zanu PF politburo. Mr. Mpofu’s media business, The Zimbabwe Mail newspaper, has also gone for several months without paying workers.
A group of over 15 women from Makhelwane Burial Society in Cowdray Park, Bulawayo, told Southern Eye Business that they were left stranded as their savings were practically locked up in the bank.
The women said they had not been able to access $5 957 from their account since 2012.
“Today (last Thursday) we went as a group to try and seek clarification, but bank employees told us there is no money and the institution is broke.
“They referred us to Harare for clarification, which is unfair because we never went to go to Harare to open this account,” Makhelwane Burial Society chairperson Linah Mpala said.
“We have been struggling with this bank for over a year. To make matters worse, the branch management apparently works half days and all other employees work two weeks a month meaning you find different people each time you follow up on the matter,” Mpala said.
Banks have been gagged from disclosing their capital levels to the public following a directive by former RBZ governor Gideon Gono, but 2013 ended with some banks embarking on a flurry of capital-raising initiatives to meet the central bank’s thresholds in compliance with the December 2012 minimum capital requirements of $25 million.
Allied Bank is, however, not under curatorship and is still expected to provide core services.
“We have had to fund funerals from our pockets by making contributions and some of our members take credit lines from people with the hope that they would repay when the bank makes our money available, but now everyone is stranded and frustrated,” the burial society treasurer Mavis Zireva said.
“What is painful is that bank staff that attend to us when we seek an explanation send us away and tell us to report the matter to whoever we want.
“Today they refused to give us a printout of our account, which is proof, though not consolation, that the money is still there.
“How then will we convince our members that we are not corrupt?”
When Southern Eye Business visited Allied Bank premises in the city centre, only two employees, an enquiries clerk and a teller, were manning the empty banking hall.
Efforts to get comments from management were fruitless as phones at both the 15th Avenue branch and head office in Harare continuously rang unanswered. – SouthernEye/Additional Reporting