How To Open an FNB Non-Resident Account / South African Bank Account for Zimbabweans and Other Foreigners

 

How To Open an FNB Non-Resident Account / South African Bank Account for Zimbabweans and Other Foreigners

Shame, shame, shame – Zimbabwe is still not part of the Rand Monetary Union. Always backward and too slow to adapt, creating financial difficulties for its citizens. The first attempt by Zimbabwe to join the Rand Monetary Union was made in 2019, a last ditch effort and desperate move by RBZ and the then Minister of Finance Mthuli Ncube to arrest spiraling inflation in a highly unstable economy. It was already too late as Zimbabwe didn't meet the requirements (and couldn't qualify), having dragged its feet for the past 25 years or so when conditions were ideal to join the CMA. 

FNB, a subsidiary of FirstRand Bank Ltd is one of the South African banks that allows non-resident foreigners to open a cheque bank account with them. FNB stands for First National Bank and it’s one of the top 5 biggest banks in South Africa, undoubtedly the most popular bank in the Rand Common Monetary Area which includes South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho as well as in SADC and Africa at large in countries like Botswana, Zambia, Angola, Mozambique, Tanzania, Ghana and Uganda.

You don't need any kind of residence permit (work, study or business permit) to open an FNB non-resident bank account. This is a special bank account for non-resident foreigners who don't live or stay in South Africa. Those with a South African residence permit must open a normal South African bank account which offers full features for both South African citizens and permit holders. If you travel regularly or occasionally to South Africa on a holiday visa, then you are better off having a non-resident South African bank account. You don’t need to go to South Africa to open a non-resident bank account. The foreign bank account can be opened from your country of citizenship or residence in the comfort of your home. All you need is a computer, internet and email to submit your application.

Submit your application to the FNB Forex Department via email. The FNB Forex Department deals with non-resident bank accounts for foreigners. They will reply you within 3 business days with an attachment of PDF application forms that have to be filled, signed and certified by the applicant before being sent back.

There are 6 application forms that you have to download from your email and fill. These are:

1. BOB Application Form
2. Customer Information Form
3. Self Certification Form
4. Signature Card Form
5. Declaration Form (To be notarized - stamped and signed by the Commissioner of Oaths)
6. Waiver and Indemnity Form (To be notarized - stamped and signed by the Commissioner of Oaths)

You also need to submit the following:

1. Certified Photocopy of your National Identity Card or Passport
2. Certified Photocopy of your Proof of Address (Utility Bill). This can be any utility bill, invoice, receipt or statement showing your residential address, for example Water Bill, Electricity Bill, Municipality Rent Invoice, Bank Account Statement, Home Telephone Bill, Home Internet Bill, Home DSTV Bill, Clothing Account, Home Postal Box Renewal Invoice, Gas Delivery Bill and so on.

Download the PDF forms to your computer, and print them in black & white copies on a jet ink printer. If you don’t have a printer, computer or laptop, go to the internet cafe and print out the PDF forms from your email. Print out the pages separately on A4 paper, so all in all, you should print out eight separate pages as follows:

• BOB Application Form (Page 1)
• Customer Information Form (Page 1 and 2)
• Self Certification Form (Page 1 and 2)
• Signature Card Form (Page 1)
• Declaration Form (Page 1)
• Waiver and Indemnity Form (Page 1)

Fill in and sign the forms with black ink where applicable.

Take the forms (including a photocopy of your ID/Passport and Utility Bill) to the Commissioner of Oaths. The Commissioner of Oaths should certify your ID/Passport and Utility Bill copies.  Your Declaration and Waiver/ Indemnity forms need to be notarized (stamped and signed) by the Commissioner of Oaths.

The rest of the forms don’t need to be stamped or certified. Just fill and sign them.

Take all your signed and completed FNB forms, including certified copies of your ID/Passport and Utility Bill, and scan them to your email, USB flash drive or laptop. Your documents should be scanned to a high resolution (minimum of A4 size 846x1183 pixels high) using a scanner machine. The text and handwriting on the scanned documents should be clear and readable when opened to 100% on a PDF reader or viewer.

Open your email and attach the scanned PDF documents. Send your email to FNB Non-Resident Centre Virtual Banking: nonres@fnb.co.za

Alternatively, you can fax your scanned documents to Fax number +2711 371 7621

Or courier them to: FNB Place, FNB Non-Resident Centre, 30 Diagonal Street, Johannesburg, 2001.

If you are sending them by courier, use TNT Express, DHL, FedEx or any other commercial courier. A Public/Post Office courier can also be used but you must send by Registered Mail, not normal mail.

Wait for a response from FNB Non-Resident Centre. If your scanned documents were sent via email, you should expect a quicker response, within 72 business hours.

If your document submission was approved, FNB will process will process your application and open a Non-Resident Cheque Account for you. They will also send an FNB Gold Debit Card to your residential address. Your application may be forwarded to and checked by FirstRand Bank Ltd before approval.

FNB South Africa Offices:  Non-Resident Account

So You Opened an FNB Non-Resident Cheque Account, Now What?

The FNB Non-Resident Cheque Account gives you some benefits which are listed below:

-          FNB Visa Gold Debit Card to withdraw cash from ATMs as well as make POS transactions in offline shops and buy online locally and internationally. (You have to be in the Rand Monetary Area to make these transactions).

-          Register for online banking on the FNB South Africa website. Log in to view transactions and balance. Initiate transfers and payments.

-          Use the FNB South Africa App on your smartphone. Log in to view transactions and balance. Initiate transfers and payments.

-          Make and receive international payments including wire transfers.

-          Make online scheduled payments and debit orders for local payments.

-          Make local transactions online.

-          Transfer funds between accounts online

What You Cannot Do with Your FNB Non-Resident Bank Account and Debit Card

This has to be emphasized because some Zimbabweans who opened a non-resident FNB account found their transactions and accounts blocked. To avoid your account or transactions being blocked, you should be aware of the limits that this bank account has:

Your FNB non-resident account can only receive transfers, deposits and payments from outside the Rand Monetary Area. This means you can only receive transfers, deposits and payments from outside South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland. You are not allowed to receive payments/transfers from these countries. That means if you have a friend, relative or business partner residing in the Rand Monetary Area, they cannot send you money. However, you can initiate transfers and send payments to people in the Rand Monetary Area.

There are special circumstances that allow you to receive payments and transfers from the Rand Monetary Area, and the sender/payer must make this clear in their bank payment description, for example if you own rental properties in South Africa, own shares from local investments, get paid by South African affiliate programs etc, these are all eligible circumstances that allow you to receive payments from the Rand Monetary Area. FNB will ask you to provide a reason for any incoming payments, transfers and deposits before crediting the received funds into your account. They may ask you to provide proof of source of funds if you are receiving payments from the Rand Monetary Area. Funds received from sale of exports and loan credits need to be proved with an applicable reference number from the authorities which shall be supplied to the FNB Forex Department.

At this point, you can see that the FNB non-resident account will be suitable for you if you are receiving foreign currency e.g. US Dollars, British Pounds, Euros, Canadian Dollars, Chinese Yuan, Pulas, Nairas and so on.

Your FNB Debit Card can only be used in the Rand Monetary Area. That means your FNB Debit Card cannot be used in Zimbabwe and other foreign countries which are not part of the Rand Monetary Area. The only time you use your FNB Visa Gold Debit Card is when you are travelling to South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho or Swaziland. It can be used to make local and international payments, POS transactions as well as withdraw cash from ATMs while you are in these areas.

Your FNB Account should be active, receiving money on an occasional or regular basis. Non-resident bank accounts which have not received money (maintaining a zero balance) for a long time will be closed. Make sure that there is some little maintenance balance left in your account (as in a savings account) to prevent closure. If you are one of those people who open a bank account and forget about it for six months or one year, then you should wait opening an account until you get consistent inflows.

An FNB Non-Resident Account is not for immigrants living in South Africa under a study, business or work permit/visa. Immigrants who are working, studying or running a business in South Africa should open a Resident Account, which is quite different from the Non-Resident Account.