The CRDB Bank, Tanzania, recently extended its debit card services to Mikumi, Udzungwa and Ruaha national parks to enable their Visa Card holders to pay for services at the above parks.
Similar services are provided by CRDB Bank in northern Tanzania covering the Serengeti, Ngorogoro crator, Tarangire, Manyara, and Kilimanjaro Mountain.
The Bank is one of the 30-plus commercial banks that are struggling to reach a wide range of customers therefore the ease in transaction for them.
The CRDB Business Card manager, Ms Jessica Nyachiro, said the bank had issued some 4,814 business debit cards to be used under the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) payment system.
She said next year the bank will endeavour to include other national parks in south western and western Tanzania such as Rubondo, Mahale and Gombe national parks.
This system is set to help tour operators by reducing time spent at the park gates and also it reduces risks of carrying large sums of money during ground transfers of tourists to the national parks.
Tanzania receives an average of 700,000 tourists every year with over 80 percent of them preferring their adventure safaris in the country’s Northern Zone attractions of Mt Kilimanjaro, Serengeti National Park, Manyara, Tarangire and the Ngorongoro Crater.
