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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Cash crisis pushes Libyans to virtual payments

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Ibrahim Abdallah - When a cash crisis struck the war-torn North African country of Libya, many people were forced to queue for days to withdraw their savings. But electronic payments systems set up to tackle the dearth of cash have struggled to gain credibility amid accusations of abuse. Said Fayez Fadlallah, 35, uses a mobile phone app to pay for a trolley-full of groceries at a large supermarket in second city Benghazi. adidas soldes “Now I don’t have to spend hours or even days queueing at the bank to withdraw cash,” he said. Years of violence and political chaos since a 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moamer Qadhafi have left Libya’s state institutions in crisis, including the central bank. In 2014, it split into two, with the different branches overseen by rival governments in the west and east. adidas pas cher The resulting cash crisis caused huge queues to form at the banks. In response, the banks have launched electronic payment systems. In Benghazi, the Bank of Commerce & Development’s ‘Edfali’ (Arabic for ‘pay me’) and Wahda Bank’s ‘MobiCash’ allow users to buy goods, pay restaurant bills and access pharmacies and hospitals. new balance men's But not everyone is happy. soldes nike At the exit of the same Benghazi supermarket, his arms full of produce, Ayman al Obeidi, 46, said the new payment systems were not working. ugg mens shoe sale “We were told... that prices would remain unchanged” compared with cash prices, he said. “But we saw a 40 per cent increase on payments with Edfali.” Many Libyans have not had free access to their bank accounts since 2014. ugg shoe sale outlet Braving cold in winter and blistering heat in the summer, they rushed to the banks on hearing rumours of cash deliveries and queued for hours without any guarantee they would be able to access their own money. The crisis has destroyed public confidence in the financial sector. Employees of Libya’s vast public service still have their salaries paid directly into their accounts. Many have turned to electronic payment systems to access their money. Wahda Bank’s spokesman Al Motassem al Fitouri said transactions via MobiCash are “very secure”. New Balance 574 “It is not even necessary to have a smartphone to make payments, nor does the merchant have to have a point-of-sale device,” he said. Nike Air Max BW The banks are aware that the services are open to abuse, however. Salah al Agouri, a businessman whose clients pay him using Edfali, is critical. “The bank did not respect its commitments,” he said.


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