Cash crisis pushes Libyans to virtual payments

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.

Such services allow buyers to credit the seller’s account. They then receive an SMS message confirming that the transaction has been completed.

Wahda Bank’s spokesman al-Motassem al-Fitouri said transactions via MobiCash are “very secure”.

“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.

The banks are aware that the services are open to abuse, however.

On its website, the BCD encourages customers to report price hikes on payments via “Edfali”.

And many businesses that were enthusiastic at first have since dropped the service.

Salah al-Agouri, a businessman whose clients pay him using Edfali, is critical.

“The bank did not respect its commitments,” he said.

“It assured us that we would be able to withdraw cash to the value of 25 percent of sales via this service, but that wasn’t the case.”