The Agricultural Bank of Namibia has informed its clients, prospective clients and all stakeholders that as from 1 December 2022, it will no longer accept cash payments. This means the bank will only accept payments through electronic transfer, deposits at commercial banks, and point of sale (POS) at the branches.
This decision to discontinue cash payments at Agribank branches is in line with the bank’s strategy to effectively manage the security risk facing the bank’s employees responsible for receiving and handling cash payments across all eight branches.
Additionally, this change is an effort by Agribank to further contribute to the combating of money laundering in the country. Money laundering is regulated in terms of the Financial Intelligence Act, with specific reference to Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. This requires stringent verification of the source of cash funds, and reporting thereon.
Agribank is a non-deposit-taking financial institution, which does not provide banking services like commercial banks. Its business is solely based on advancing loans to individuals, business entities or financial intermediaries for the promotion and development of agriculture and related activities in the country. This implies the bank has limited cash-handling facilities, and does not charge clients for cash deposits. At the same time, the bank continues to bear the costs when depositing cash in its own bank accounts at commercial banks.
“With reference to Agribank services, one of the requirements when accessing loan products is that an applicant is required to have a bank account with any commercial bank. Prospective clients who do not have bank accounts are required to open a bank account as a condition to access Agribank loan facilities. As such, the decision to not accept cash payments will not affect the ability of clients to make payments through electronic bank transfer and deposits through commercial banks,” read their statement.
Clients have, therefore, been advised to obtain Agribank bank account details from their monthly account statements at the relevant offices, and make payments through commercial banks. Clients are also advised to indicate their loan account numbers as a reference when making loan payments to ensure the timeous allocation to their accounts. Alternatively, clients are encouraged to sign up for debit order deduction services with Agribank for once-off payments or recurrent monthly payments.
The agricultural bank has encouraged clients to continue honouring their obligations by ensuring timely payment of their loan instalments. This will enable the bank to continue delivering on its mandate of promoting and developing the agricultural sector to ensure national food security, promote sustainable employment and improve overall economic growth.