Due to a directive by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), Capitec clients will no longer be able to receive money from, or make EFT payments to, certain banks in neighbouring countries. Here’s what you can do.
Capitec clients who currently receive money from, or make EFT payments to, Namibia, Lesotho and eSwatini through FirstRand, Standard Bank, Nedbank, Bank Windhoek and eSwatini Bank will no longer be able to do so. However, they will still be able to receive SWIFT payments from these banks.
Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and eSwatini (Swaziland) are a Common Monetary Area (CMA). This means that the currencies of these countries have the same value as the South African rand, and there are no exchange rate fluctuations on payments between these countries.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) recently issued a directive that changed the payment information requirements for CMA transactions to meet international standards relating to anti-money laundering practices.
From Monday, 23 September EFT payments to and from the countries and banks below will not be accepted or processed:
| Namibia |
|
| Country | Bank |
| Lesotho |
|
| Eswatini |
|
If you have beneficiaries with bank accounts in the CMA, the relevant beneficiaries listed on your profile will be removed and all future stop payments and debit orders will also be returned unprocessed.
You can continue to transact in South Africa using your cellphone banking app, Internet banking and card as usual.
SWIFT is a compliant, secure and reliable way to make international payments. Banking clients in the CMA can ask their banks about alternative payment options, but SWIFT payments could be done from the above mentioned banks to a Capitec account.
It may take longer to receive funds from these countries into your Capitec account, so consider the impact that a delay in receiving money can have on your debit orders.
SWIFT payments could be more expensive than the EFT payment option. However, because the change is forced by regulation on short notice, Capitec will reverse the R120 forex administration fee for all payments received from the abovementioned banks into a Capitec account.
Contact a Capitec branch or download the International Payments to Capitec Clients document on how to receive international payments, which includes a tip on how to make the payment faster.
