Zimbabwe banks have dumped Paynet, a subsidiary of Mauritian
financial services provider Cambria, as they are developing their own new
system expected to be in place mid-July.
Paynet has now served banks with a summons in a $100 million
lawsuit accusing lenders of colluding to stamp out competition in the provision
of bulk-payment services, such as salary disbursements.
Cambria Africa Plc’s Paynet Zimbabwe and Payserv Africa
units are claiming the damages from the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe, according
to the summons, dated July 22 and served on the 21-member organization by the
sheriff of the court on Wednesday. The summons gives the association 10
business days to oppose the application, the court filings show.
Paynet switched off Zimbabwean banks a fortnight ago over a
debt of US$470 000 debt.
Local banks have developed a system to be known as Bank File
Interchange System (BFIS) which will be collaboratively funded by all banks and
will have the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe as its custodian while riding on
the ZimSwitch platform.
Paynet, served 5 800 corporate clients and 2,5 million
beneficiaries and its suspension disrupted salaries for over half a million
workers, while Nssa announced the delay in paying out pensions as a result.
