How Much Are Zim Banks Charging When You Transact In Shops?

We compiled these charges over a year ago so this list is also a good reflection of the changes since then:

PS: The charges in the table exclude the 2% IMT tax

Bank	POS fees (transactions	POS fees (transactions	POS fees (transactions >$10)	POS fees (transactions >$20)
Agribank		$0.20		$2
BancABC		$0.50		$3
CABS	0.5% (min $0.40 – max $6 )		0.5% (min $0.40 – max $6 )
CBZ	2.5% (min $3.00 – Max $25.00)		2.5% (min $3.00 – Max $25.00)
EcoBank	1% of the transaction value		1% of the transaction value
FBC	$0.20		$0.74
FirstCapital	$0.30		$1.00
Metbank	* $1.35 min – $5 max (* thresholds not specified)		* $1.35 min – $5 max (* thresholds not specified)
Nedbank	$0.50		$2.50
NMB		$0.50		$1.85
StanBic	$0.20		0.5% – minimum $0.50 and maximum $10.00
Standard Chartered	$0.19		$0.85
Steward	$0.12		$1.25
ZB		$0.93		$0.93

Changes

Last year when reviewing these charges Standard Chartered was the only bank not charging clients for transacting in shops. As you can see in the table above that’s no longer the case even though they have some of the lower charges.

Suggestions for the banks

When compiling these charges it became clear to me that banks need to have these charges on their websites because a few banks actually had customer support agents who just didn’t know what the current charges are. We complained about transparency last year as well which suggests most banks aren’t particularly concerned with full transparency when it comes to what they are charging clients.

In this regard, their mobile money competition has served consumers far better with prominent notices and charge sheets which are available and usually updated on their websites.

Also, some of the banks don’t have toll-free lines – you could call and not get the information you need as a customer which is not only irritating but also expensive. Kudos to Stanbic who had the charges on their site and were also quick to respond via social media.

Finally, it would be great if all banks had a WhatsApp line where customers can reach them at a fraction of the cost. It seems CBZ is the only bank that had an easy-to-find WhatsApp contact. I’m not sure if the other banks don’t have WhatsApp at all or if the WhatsApp contacts are harder to find.