Bereng Mpaki
AIR travellers leaving or arriving at Moshoeshoe I International Airport will no longer need to worry about finding a bureau de change after Standard Lesotho Bank (SLB) this week opened a foreign exchange kiosk.
The facility, which caters for both in-bound and out-bound visitors, provides various world currencies worth up to M50 000 to travellers with a flight ticket and a passport.
In his remarks during the launch ceremony on Tuesday, SLB Chief Executive Mpho Vumbukani said the kiosk was established in line with the financial institution’s continuous drive to better serve their clients.
The bank already has an airport lounge facility for serving its private clients who are in transit.
“We are indeed very excited to launch this service at the airport for Basotho and all our visitors who come into the country by air transport,” he said.
“This is yet another first, not only in the banking industry, but for Lesotho’s promising aviation industry, where the bank has introduced this service to extend convenience to passengers as they board flights in and out of the country,”
Mr Vumbukani also indicated that the foreign exchange kiosk was not just about banking, but about understanding the needs of their customers and what is needed to make Lesotho’s economy vibrant.
“We are always thinking of new ways to do banking. We are always observing tends the world over to see what we can adopt within the confines of what we can afford to bring home.”
He added that as market leaders, SLB was constantly looking for ways to raise the bar by being innovative, responsive and thinking ahead of their customers.
For his part, Foreign Affairs Minister Lesego Makgothi, welcomed the kisk saying it was a step in the right direction towards meeting international airport standards.
“We officially open doors to this essential service that is indeed much appreciated, especially for us as a country because from today, our airport, which is essentially our front porch for visitors that fly into Lesotho will have foreign exchange facilities like any other airport of its stature,” he said.
“This facility will indeed help us as a nation to transform our airport to meet international standards as we are all aware that bureau de change facilities are now the norm at major airport across the world.” Mr Makgothi also said the convenient location of the kiosk would save time and money for visitors, “while at the same time would also have a possible impact to the wider economy of the country”.
“We value this contribution that Standard Lesotho Bank has made to Moshoeshoe I International Airport as this facility gives us our country the respect that it deserves and as I earlier indicated, our people and the economy as a whole will benefit a lot from this initiative,” the minister added.
