Over the past days, some branches of Khartoum banks have been subjected to burglary and vandalism, amid the collapse of the national operator for banking services in Sudan (EBS) for the fourth day in a row, with the continued suspension of all banking application services, which deprived many people of the African country from purchasing their daily needs of food and medicine.
The collapse of electronic payment services
In the latest report, the “Takween” committee of the Sudanese Engineers Union revealed that electronic payment services in banks have stopped due to the lack of an effective plan for the Bank of Sudan and commercial banks to continue this service in an emergency situation.
In a report issued on Tuesday, the committee noted that the Bank of Khartoum application, which is the most widely used in the country, operates intermittently and provides limited services.
It also indicated that the application of the so-called “Okash” affiliated with Omdurman Bank returned to work in a limited manner, days after the start of the war, but it suffers from fluctuations in electricity, with the difficulty of providing the necessary banking services to Sudanese to manage their livelihood amid the horrors of war.
She also confirmed that the “Fawry” application and the “Momo” application of the “MTN” company operate in a limited way and were affected by the company’s downtime, noting that “these applications stopped working due to war, clashes and robberies, which prevented a large segment of Sudanese from accessing their money in banks.” .
Meanwhile, the “Western Union” company for financial transactions confirmed that “due to the recent developments in Sudan, international money transfer services have been suspended in Khartoum and other affected areas until further notice.”
Since last April 15, the two parties to the conflict have exchanged accusations of facilitating and carrying out looting and robbery on a number of branches of the capital’s banks and other cities, amid depositors’ fears of losing their money.
Organized gangs specializing in thefts, which are locally called “Nigers”, are currently spreading in light of the state of security chaos in the country, and the escape of hundreds of prisoners since the start of the clashes, according to the British “BBC” website.
A fire broke out last week in the Central Bank of Sudan, which has 17 branches distributed in the different states of the country, prompting him to confirm that the funds of depositors in the banking system are “safe”, and that the thefts of some branches of commercial banks do not affect those deposits.
Running out of cash
With the closure of banks and the collapse of electronic payment services, the Sudanese are facing a severe crisis in the cash liquidity needed to provide for their livelihood, in light of the continuing battles.
In recent years, the Sudanese preferred to rely on electronic applications to trade their money instead of dealing in cash, but with the outbreak of the war in mid-April, the cash liquidity crisis was exacerbated by the delay or non-payment of salaries in the country, according to an interview by Sudanese researcher Salah Hamid to “Sky News Arabia” website.
According to Hamid, “the flight of citizens from Khartoum or Sudan to neighboring countries requires a lot of cash, which many do not have at the present time in a country where about 65 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.”
He continued, “The Sudanese are currently suffering from a lack of liquidity and lack of local cash, since the outbreak of clashes that closed banks and prevented them from accessing their savings.”
The Sudanese people’s desire to procure the necessary local cash prompted some beneficiaries to take advantage of these difficult circumstances by selling the local currency in exchange for the dollar at a low price, according to foreign reports.
Fleeing from Khartoum has become very difficult, because this requires a lot of cash in Sudanese currency, and this is not available to many after the banks and their electronic services stopped, according to the Sudanese researcher.
What happens to deposits?
On the crisis front, the Sudanese Banks Association issued a statement yesterday, Tuesday, stating the following:
• All customer balances and financial information are fully preserved.
• We seek to restore banking services in all states; And in Khartoum if the conditions are right.
• We regret and condemn the exposure of some bank branches to burglary and vandalism without taking into account their role in serving the public and preserving the deposits of the Sudanese.
• We hope that the competent authorities will make every effort to protect bank branches in all states so that they can continue their role in serving the Sudanese public and economy.
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