A Rice farmer from Chama District in Muchinga Province has expressed concern over Zanaco Bank Plc’s decision to shut down its only Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in the district.
Mwanangwa Rice Company Managing Director Yotam Mtayachalo tells Money FM News via telephone that the move by Zanaco has come as a surprise and has raised a lot of concerns from workers, the business community and other stakeholders because it has not given any explanation to its clients.
And when contacted for a comment, Zanaco Bank Plc says as part of the medium term strategy to be the Top Transactional Bank by 2020, it is rationalizing its distribution channels across the network.
Zanaco Head of Marketing & Communications Mutinta Chikopela says in light of the bank’s digital strategy, it will leverage on the growth of the digital platforms and increase the customers’ digital touch points.
“While some areas will continue to be best served by branches and agencies, others will be best served by platforms such as ATMs and Zanaco Xpress Agents, in addition to our existing digital platforms,” she said.
“In Chama District, the ATM will be decommissioned, as per notice. Instead, we will boost our Zanaco Xpress agency banking platforms in the district. We currently have 11 Zanaco Xpress Agents, who are able to handle the volume of transactions that the district records.”
She said in the next three months, the bank will increase the number of Zanaco Xpress Agents in the district by 10 and further build their capacity to adequately handle higher volumes of transactions especially during month-ends.
“We would like to thank our esteemed customers for their loyalty and continued support,” said Ms Chikopela.