Types of Money in Zimbabwe

You have to live in Zimbabwe to understand its complicated money. I tried to explain the types of money in Zimbabwe to a friend in the United States. He didn’t understand a thing. He wanted to send me money and we were discussing the best way for him to do so. The following is an extract of our conversation;

Cool. I meant Western Union would be the best as it gives people real United States dollars (cash), as opposed to money that’s in an account (also USDs but different). I then turn the cash into money in a card at a profit of 70%. Anyway, Zimbabwe’s finances are a bit complicated. Payoneer is fine. The only issue now is that I use my payoneer card just like i do the local card (where my salary goes).

Now, we all know that the money in the Payoneer card is real USDs and not some virtual currency. A solution for me would be to go to South Africa and withdraw cash there, then come back and have that changed. Or to give my card to someone making a trip to the UK, or to the US. FYI, I last had cash several months ago. All banks in Zim have no cash.

My salary gets into my account and I use my local card for everything. Unfortunately, some shops charge a premium when someone is buying using a card. So people actually buy money (cash) here. Its entirely fooked up haha! I personally have sworn that I won’t ever buy money and it has worked for almost half a year. So, the summarize: Zimbabwe has 3 kinds of money; Real USD (Benjamins), Virtual US dollars that are deposited into our accounts, and a local currency that is called the bond notes.

Buying Money on the Black Market

Now, the real USD and the token notes are virtually unavailable. You actually have to buy them on the black market. If, on the other hand, you have real USD cash, you can sell them at 70% premium, and the money is then deposited into your account. You then use your card to make purchases. The problem for me is that my very real USDs are in a card and not in the form of cash.

So, I am forced to buy products that have more than doubled in price over the past few months. The price increases are because business people are forced to go onto the black market to access real foreign currency in order to import products and services. The long and short of it? The money that I get in the Payoneer card has lost $70 of its value, unless I can go to a country that has a stable country and withdraw it there! Haha, that turned out to be a rather long summary….