WorldRemit has just informed its customers who send money to Zimbabwe that they will no longer be able to send money directly to Zimbabwean bank accounts using the WorldRemit money transfer service because they do not believe the service will offer the best quality service. Customers will still be able to send money to Zimbabwean recipients who can collect cash from WorldRemit agents, partners and Mukuru Orange booths. The new measures will come into effect on 29 June 2022.

Below is the message from WorldRemit:

At WorldRemit, we pride ourselves on offering the best possible service to our customers. Sometimes that means removing services where we don’t believe we can provide the best-quality service or the widest range of options for you.
We’ve decided to remove bank transfers from our service in Zimbabwe. From 29/06/2022, you won’t be able to send money to bank accounts in Zimbabwe.
We do apologise for any inconvenience this causes to yo or your loved ones. The good news is that our other money transfers, including cash pickup, mobile money and airtime, will still be available. Have a look at our website and app for more information.
Thank you,
WorldRemit Customer Care team.

A scheming government thwarted

WorldRemit is being polite here. The thing is sending money to a Zimbabwean government is the stupidest thing you can ever do thanks to a scheming and conniving government that is always on the prowl for foreign currency. Let us say you receive US$100 which goes to your bank account rather than come as cash pick up. That money will be obliterated by all sorts of charges including taxes to the extent that you will be lucky if you can get out US$80. The RBZ can even expropriate that money all they need it some Statutory Instrument or order to help themselves. Or they can just convert it at the dreaded official rate.

Most Zimbabweans who live outside this country are no longer familiar with our mercurial and ever changing banking laws. They hardly ever keep up with exchange rates. They sometimes make the mistake of sending money to their relatives’ accounts instead of sending it as cash. The results can be quite catastrophic. The best course of action is to do what WorldRemit has done. Remove the option to prevent people from making a mistake. There is no conceivable reason why you would want to ever send your money to a Zimbabwean bank account-believe me.

While at it. Heed our advice. Never send money to people’s mobile accounts. For lack of a better adjective doing so is stupid. Just send them cash via WorldRemit. If they want airtime they can always buy it themselves. That’s something considering we sell airtime ourselves but that is the honest truth. The only time you can send airtime is if you just want to send airtime and it’s late. Then you can use our form below and pay using PayPal/Rand EFT. We won’t even care who you are let alone want to know your mother’s maiden name. We just need your phone number and the receiving phone number.