Customers of Pimcel Microfinance have appealed to the Bank of Ghana to help them retrieve their locked up cash in the company.
According to the customers, the company has failed to pay them interests on their investments for the past three months.
The development follows recent moves by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to cleanse the sector, after it was hit by a debacle that resulted in customers of DKM microfinance and God is Love Fun Club losing their investments.
In this direction, the BoG announced this year that it has suspended the issuance of new licenses as part of moves to cleanse the microfinance sector.
With the current development at Pimcel, it appears customers of the company may face difficulties as the company struggles to pay its investors.
Some of the customers of Pimcel who spoke to Citi Business News expressed fear of losing their investments.
Recounting how her investment got locked up, a customer stated that she begun doing business with the company about five years ago, and has been saving and receiving her salary through the company.
“For the past four years I have been saving with them but since last year things have changed and we don’t know why. We decided to follow up only to realize the work is not going on now. So looking at the atmosphere, we decided to take back our money and close our accounts but till date they have refused to pay us our monies”, she said.
She stated that with the current condition of the company, it appears the company has no liquidity to pay its investors.
Another affected customer told Citi Business News’ Jessica Ayorkor Aryee that the recent microfinance debacle prompted her to withdraw all her money from the company but management of Pimcel succeeded in convincing her that the money was safe.
“Most often I meet an empty office whenever I go there to retrieve my money. They just keep tossing me and it’s very frustrating,” she siad.
Naami, another customer whose cash has been locked up stated that authorities must step in to help them retrieve their cash.
She further added that “the savings was mainly for paying my bills, especially the outrageous light bill”
Meanwhile, management of the company say though the company is facing some financial challenges, it has not failed to pay customers their investments.
They have since declined to make any further comments on the matter.
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By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana