The Yes Bank Debit and forex card holders who were traveling overseas have been hit the hardest due to the ongoing bank crisis. Especially the people carrying forex prepaid cards instead of currency notes. Atleast 40,000 people have been affected by this crisis by cutting off their access to payments of transport, accommodation, and food too.
A forex-card operator said that these cards are just like drafts which are also pre-paid instruments. This unexpected crisis has left thousands of Indians overseas without access to money. He added, “Imagine being in a situation where you are traveling outside the country and banking on your credit/debit cards, and they no longer work.” On Thursday, 5th March 2020, a moratorium was imposed on Yes Bank by central bank that capped withdrawals to Rs. 50,000 per person. A limit of Rs. 5 lakh has been relaxed for medical emergencies, higher education payments, or wedding expenses.
Numerous Yes Bank customers tweeted seeking help as they were stranded due to the deactivation of the cards. A student having a BookMyForex multi-currency card, Harsh Wadhwa wrote on twitter, “I have to pay my rent but I can’t withdraw a single cent even when I have already preloaded money in my card.”
Soumitra Chakravarti, another twitter user in Canada with the forex card as the only source of money tweeted, “They key word is prepaid, how can you stop my card services? I am stranded because of this and in an SOS situation.” He also tagged India’s external affairs minister, S Jaishankar.
The private bank, facing regulatory issues, announced on Saturday that the users can withdraw money from ATM’s using debit cards and that its systems were operational. On Sunday the bank tweeted, “You can now make withdrawals using your Yes Bank debit card both at Yes Bank and other bank ATM’s. Thanks for your patience.”
