Tanzania: Exim Bank Launches Master, Visa Cards to Ease Tourism Transactions

By Bernard Lugongo

Tourists visiting national parks do not need to walk with cash for making payment as now they could do so electronically.

This comes following launching of Exim Bank's Master and VISA cards for the national parks yesterday in Dar es Salaam. At the launching event, Exim Bank Tanzania Operations Manager, Mr Manfredy Kayala, said the electronic service payment would be available at all national parks.

Mr Kayala noted that the bank had been tendered by the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) to provide the electronic payment services at its all 17 national parks. He said such service was available at only four national parks since 2007, but recently the TANAPA added 13 national parks that the electronic payment system would be installed. "This system would assure the tourists of safety for their money since walking with cash could expose them to theft," he said.

The move to launch the new service at the national parks was part of the bank's celebration to mark its 19th birthday. The celebration also saw an introduction of other services: the whistle blower/anti-fraud campaign and Elimika eLearning Management System.

The whistle blower campaign intends to create a fraud free environment in the banking industry while Elimika eLearning Management System would enhance staff to sharpen their skills through learning online.

Elaborating on the whistle blower campaign, Head of Risk and Compliance, Mr David Lusala, said the campaign came after the bank learnt the best practices from the developed countries. He said through this campaign they would encourage their customers to report any unethical conducts done by the bank's staff so that the management could take immediate action.

"This would help us improve efficiency in providing services to the customer and make the customer feel that they are in control of the services they have been offered," he said. In line with the boosting the bank's efficiency, introduction of the elearning platform by the Exim Academy was also the ideal decision, the Bank's Head of Human Resources Department, Mr Fredrick Kanga, said.

"We are optimistic that the elearning system would improve creativity in banking field among our staff," he said.

Speaking over expansion of the bank, the Chief of Finance, Mr Selemani Ponda, said the bank spent at least Sh45billion as capital to open up its branches in Uganda, Comoro and Djibouti. The bank also plans to launch other branches in two African countries in the next five years.