Thu, 01 Dec 2016 09:44:48 +0000
HUNDREDS of Intermarket Banking Corporation Zambia Limited customers yesterday rushed to withdraw their money from their accounts following information that the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) had taken possession of the bank which they declared insolvent.
Head of communications for the central bank, Kanguya Mayondi, last Tuesday revealed that Intermarket Bank was no longer able to meet its institutional obligations and that the BoZ had taken possession of the bank.
Hundreds of account holders at Intermarket Bank descended on the banking premises demanding an immediate withdraw of money from their accounts.
The panic followed the central bank’s decision to take possession of the operations of Intermarket which they declared insolvent.
A check by the Daily Nation found a small crowd of people standing near the closed bank
entrance but revealed that there were more people earlier.
A customer Terry Munkombwe said that he found out through the social media that the bank had been seized by the central bank.
Mr Munkombwe, who could not withdraw money from his account because the bank’s ATMs were not accessible, explained that there was no longer sense of security banking with the financial institution.
“The bank is closed and we can’t even access our salaries through the ATMs. We have tried over and over. We no longer feel secure banking with the banks,” he said.
Mr Munkombwe, who was in a state of shock, wondered why the bank had not notified its clients about the takeover on time, as he claimed that they should have known of the developments way back. He said that he was stuck as he was drew his salary through the bank and that he needed to pay the landlord his dues.
And another client Gerald Daka said that most customers were very worried as they did not know what else would happen to the bank.
Mr Daka explained that he was even more worried because he could not even access his money through the ATM.
He said that the bank had not informed them of any changes and that he just learnt of the developments through the media.
Mr Daka also wondered why the development had happened at the time when salaries were in the accounts, reiterating that it was a deliberate move.
He bemoaned that there was too much misinformation on what was going to happen to the bank, a situation he said had brought about panic among account holders.
“Why did they wait until salaries were in the accounts? We can’t access the money anywhere. There is panic because we are getting different information about what will happen next, we are worried,” he said.
