Bank Holiday
December 31st, 2012 has been declared a Bank Holiday. I have heard a lot of people missing this point and some think it is just an intention.
The holiday was declared and a statutory instrument issued to that effect. Moreover, the Re-domination of Currency Bill, was passed in Parliament and is now an Act. So the day is a holiday.
What to Expect on 31st December, 2012
All banks, ATMs and Other financial institutions will remain closed to the public. There will be of course their staff working as the day was declared a holiday for the transition to the new Kwacha (the Re-based Kwacha). All software need to be installed and launched will be done on that day and any short-comings rectified before 1st January, 2013.
So you wont use the ATMs. Of course strategic places like International Airports, Border points will have working ATMs and some banks, but the rest of the country will not. So if you will need money for the usual New Year Eve running around, make sure you have it in cash. For emergencies, run to the Airport! All ATMs will be loaded with the new notes (ZMW and not ZMK) in readiness for 1st January, 2013.
I'm not sure about swiping. You may have to find out on that issue.
The good news at the moment is that most banks have already started implementing the new Kwacha (ZMW). What is interesting is that some banks (wont mention them) did not plan well on the issue and did not implement critical issues related to the change. Most businesses also did not know that this would actually cost them money to upgrade not only infrastructure but software as well. So the new Kwacha is here, but are we ready to start working with it just now? Coins, new kwacha scent, etc
Do counters have places to place the coins? Do you have machines to count the new notes? Do we have places to get vending machines from?
Welcome come the new year with the new Kwacha! Kwachaecon will be there for the first notes and will upload as soon as it comes in.
Happy kwacha economy.
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