What has been suspected for a while now has been confirmed in the recently released POTRAZ Q2 report of 2017: EcoCash is synonymous with mobile money in Zimbabwe. Sitting at a staggering 97.98% of market share for subscribers, the Econet-owned mobile money solution has cemented themselves as the dominant player of mobile money in Zimbabwe. Similarly […]

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Confirmed: EcoCash IS Zimbabwe’s Mobile Money Solution

Earlier this year Techzim attended the launch of the partnership between EcoCash and ZINARA. The partnership enabled Ecocash users to pay for their toll gate fees using their mobile money account, a service that proves to be invaluable in an economy that is currently facing a cash crisis. At the said event, Nathalie Jabangwe-Morris, EcoCash Zimbabwe […]

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Did EcoCash Lie About Subscriber Numbers? But Why?

Techzim attended the ‘Swipe Into Ecocash’ launch this morning where Ecocash were sharing their new service offering that allows users to swipe their ZimSwitch bank card at any Steward Bank POS machine and have that money credited to their mobile money wallet. This is an awesome solution (yes, I do such words when I see […]

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Those Are Our Numbers Says Ecocash…

This evening, Techzim attended a NetOne event at which they launched the OneMoney ZimSwitch enabled debit card. You might be asking yourself what OneMoney is because last you checked their mobile money platform was called OneWallet. Well, OneMoney is a ‘OneWallet come back’ (hopefully). In more formal terms, OneMoney is OneWallet rebranded. I initially called […]

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The long wait ends, NetOne’s OneMoney finally launches a debit card

Ever wondered, what made EcoCash so popular??? Well, that’s a whole case study on its own which I’m a bit too lazy to do right now (sorry to disappoint). But…. I will talk about one of the reasons. See? It’s not all bad. After all, it’s a Friday! So one of the reasons I will […]

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EcoCash wasn’t the first, but they sure did some things right…

The Minister of ICT and Cyber Security, Supa Mandiwanzira told The Fingaz that EcoCash dominance in the mobile money sector could lead to a disaster if not curtailed.

According to Mandiwanzira, there are two stats that are a cause for concern. Firstly, EcoCash processes about 90% of transactions in the entire mobile money field and, secondly, 98% of the country’s mobile money subscribers are on EcoCash as well.

What happens when EcoCash crashes?

The problem with this, according to Supa, is that if the EcoCash systems were to fail at any given time the disruption would affect the entirety of the nation. The government wants inter-operability so that reliance is spread across EcoCash, Telecash and OneMoney.

Mandiwanzira also said:

“You cannot hold an asset that you were given by the government through a license and think it is entirely yours. Others must access what you have built but they should do so for a fee, a reasonable fee.

…that is the message we have given to Econet, NetOne and Telecel. You own the frequency to the extent of your license but we can also tell you what to do.

This reminds me of the infrastructure sharing that the government tried to force upon Econet in 2016. Though talk about this has kind of ceased lately, Supa’s statement implies that the government is in a position to force interoperability or whatever else they want since they consider that by licensing operators it means they can tell them whatever they want.

Some time back the RBZ said they were not going to force interoperability on mobile money operators as they preferred to see the market develop towards there by itself.

What’s happening elsewhere?

Regulators in Kenya made interoperability mandatory and sometime this month Safaricom’s M-Pesa will work alongside other mobile-money platforms even though M’Pesa had 66% of the mobile money market. 66% is less than EcoCash’s 98% monopoly and may complicate the negotiations for interoperability. Econet’s move to open up EcoCash to NetOne subscribers may be a way of avoiding interoperability. Tanzania was the first country to launch wallet-to-wallet interoperability back in September of 2016.

Let us know what you think of Mandiwanzira’s views on EcoCash ’s dominance in the comments below.

Remember Techzim has done a write-up on EcoCash looking at the EcoCash journey from pre-launch to its current position. The strategic decisions that Econet made are studied in detail. In easy to read language, the evolution of EcoCash is analyzed. To buy the Techzim Insights on Ecocash write-up simply send the fee of $4.99 to Techzim Merchant Number 83688 and then send an email with the reference number to admin@techzim.co.zw

The post Supa Mandiwanzira Thinks EcoCash Dominance Could Be Disastrous appeared first on Techzim.

According to the Herald, a survey conducted across some major supermarkets in Harare revealed that customers are having trouble with the ‘swipe into EcoCash’ service. An unnamed Pick n’ Pay official also said the Jason Moyo branch is missing out on almost $3000 on a daily basis because of Swipe into EcoCash.

Many people also seem to be confused about who they should contact for help in case of a failed transaction or double debits from a single transaction, especially if one is using a bank card not issued by Steward Bank.

What’s the cause of the problems?

Econet sited that as greater volumes adopt the service and transact on mobile, the risk of errors rises due to server congestion. The failures were also attributed to network connections and downtime due to the maintenance of infrastructure.

How to get support

Econet offered clarification in terms of how customers using the swipe into cash can get support:

“Procedure for follow up is to directly call the EcoCash Call Centre(114) which then liases with Steward Bank, the settlement banking partner for validation of payment reversals”

The maximum validation time for failed transactions is 24 hours.

‘Swipe Into EcoCash’ allows people banking with any Zimswitch compatible bank to transfer funds from their bank account into their EcoCash. Retailers also integrated the system in fear of risking loss of business.

I suspect with time the service will get better integration. Have you been struggling with swipe into EcoCash? Has the experience been faultless for you thus far? Let’s get talking in the comments

The post Econet Blames Swipe Into EcoCash Errors On Server Congestion appeared first on Techzim.

Cellulant, a digital payments service, is trying to lessen the burden involved with making fees payments in Zimbabwe. They are introducing a service that enables tracking of fees payments. This means that as a parent/guardian you just pay fees and don’t have to produce any proof of payment as the school can track who made the payment and whose fees are being paid.

A more seamless experience?

The cash crunch has its grip tightly around zimbos necks and last year some parents/guardians resorted to paying fees with livestock (goats to be exact). Even now the payment options available are not as intuitive as one would like.

If a parent pays fees via bank transfer, the child has to then go with the bank statement as proof of payment for the school to acknowledge that the fees were actually paid. In the event that the proof of payment was misplaced by your child or you (parent/guardian), you would have to go to the bank and get another statement and then go back to the school. If it’s payment via EcoCash (or Telecash, OneWallet) the parent/guardian has to be at the school to avoid confusion in case there is a child with a similar surname at the school.

So much time and effort just in order to ensure that the fees you paid is acknowledged. To make matters worse, your child may be banned from attending classes as the school waits for proof of payment.

Cellulant’s payment option enables tracking of payments. This means that as a parent/guardian you just have to pay fees and rest easy.

Cellulant has brought Stanbic on board as one of the first partners and enables you to access Blue 247(Stanbic’s mobile banking platform). The platform can also be linked to other mobile money platforms such as EcoCash and enables you to pay bills from the comfort of your home. I am not with Stanbic so I can neither confirm nor deny if their mobile banking platform works as advertised.

Cellulant is not new in Zimbabwe and has actually been operating for about 5 years now. The one downside of this service is that it’s available to Stanbic customers only so if you are using any other bank you are out of luck. The payment option is also available in over 200 schools which Cellulant failed to disclose at the time of writing. If you know some of these schools please let us know in the comments down below

We want more!

Hopefully, this payment option will be coming to other banks soon because right now the Stanbic exclusivity means this service is unavailable to a huge number of people and schools who actually need it. The option would be welcome in more schools as well

What do you think about Cellulant’s fees payment platform? If it comes to other banking platforms will you switch to it? Let’s get talking

The post Cellulant Wants To Take The Hustle Out Of Digital School Fees Payments appeared first on Techzim.

It seems the EcoCash doors have been opened once again. Telecel subscribers are now able to register for EcoCash.

Last week we reported that NetOne subscribers could now register on EcoCash. The process is as simple as going into an Econet Shop and going through the normal registration process and you’re an EcoCash user.

Of course, for now, EcoCash is only available through the EcoCash application and not the USSD codes.

EcoCash-Google Play Store link

EcoCash’s move to open its platform to users who are not on the Econet platform is good news and we will be taking a look at what this could mean for the mobile money scene in Zim…

The post [BREAKING]:Telecel Subscribers Can Now Register For EcoCash appeared first on Techzim.

Telecel and NetOne users are now welcome to join the greener pastures of EcoCash. On second thought I think it would be fair to make the proclamation that EcoCash is now basically a bank. A digital banking platform if you want to be more specific.

Your mobile number is now basically an EcoCash account number

The EcoCash registration process is no longer dependant on what mobile network you use. Basically, EcoCash is treating mobile numbers as bank accounts. Your phone number is now more like an account number because of the fact that any mobile subscriber can access the platform. It no longer matters if you are on Econet, NetOne or Telecel which effectively means EcoCash is no longer Econet’s mobile money platform but more a Zimbabwean platform.

Telecash and OneMoney out of the game

EcoCash’s move to open the doors to NetOne & Telecel subscribers essentially rules Telecash and OneMoney out of the mobile money game. EcoCash already had about 98% of the mobile money user base and this move means if you’re on OneMoney and Telecash there is no reason to stay on those platforms. In fact, I’ll go as far as saying staying on these two would actually be an inconvenience.

Picture this scenario: You use OneMoney or Telecash exclusively and you want to send money to a friend or relative in an emergency. You then realise they use EcoCash and thus are not in a position to send them money because they have to then go to an agent, which is not practical during an emergency.The move by EcoCash to incorporate the two other MNO’S means the likelihood of this happening is effectively erased. You can use your Telecel/NetOne line and still enjoy the fruits of EcoCash when you need it.

The only hiccup for now is that if you are on NetOne/Telecel you can only use EcoCash via the app. This means it’s exclusively available to smartphone users and those with mbudzi’s(basic phone) you are out of luck. It will be interesting to see if and how Econet fixes that.

EcoCash divorced from Econet the MNO

EcoCash is also becoming independent from Econet with this move. Yes, they are still a subsidiary of Econet but this move means their brand becomes less aligned solely with Econet and more with mobile money in Zimbabwe. In a few years time if EcoCash is still open to other networks the Econet relationship will be less transparent because all Zimbabwean mobile phone users will be able to subscribe even if they are on other networks.

The Econet-EcoCash relationship will no longer be a conversation when signing up for the service. Think of it this way, all along for you to sign up for EcoCash you HAD to be on Econet. In maybe 7 year’s time though, you will just walk into an Econet shop and sign up without even considering what network you are subscribed to.

Your phone number is essentially equal to any other random but unique 10 digit number which serves as your bank account. It doesn’t matter whether or not you receive calls through this number or you don’t.

The move by EcoCash may be more significant than we think. Econet is seriously spreading its wings here and to think of it as just a mobile money platform no longer does it justice. EcoCash has transcended mobile money and is now more akin to a banking platform than an exclusive mobile money solution.

The post ‘Confirmed’ EcoCash Is Now Essentially A Bank appeared first on Techzim.

EcoCash users can now receive money from users of the Orange Money Mobile Money platform Botswana. In the meantime, EcoCash users will not be able to send funds the other way. This also applies to all their other remittance platforms.

In our communications with an EcoCash representative, he made it abundantly clear that they prioritize partnerships with countries that have high volumes of Zimbabwean. It appears most of the other countries that use Orange Money have a low number of Zimbabweans so they may not be moving to those territories anytime soon.

Orange Money is used in 15 other countries across the continent which include, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Sierra Leone and DRC among others.

The post People In Botswana With Orange Money Can Now Send Money To EcoCash Users In Zimbabwe appeared first on Techzim.

Today marks the day that the linking of Ecocash accounts and Standard Chartered(StanChart) accounts is finally going live. Previously, it had been announced about such an arrangement but the platform wasn’t yet operational. Zimbabwe’s oldest financial institution and the largest mobile money transfer platform are teaming up to increase service provision to their respective customers. StanChart, like any other big institution had lagged to link its banking services with Ecocash.

Why was StanChart late to link with Ecocash?

Persistent cash shortages and the widespread use of mobile money services could have prompted StanChart to link with Ecocash. A lot of people are now using Ecocash relative to banking services of decorated banks like StanChart.

Banks like Stanchart were only left to process company accounts and transactions of huge sums, which are not frequently done compared to household accounts of Ecocash users.

The demise of many companies and the scaling down of operations by many companies in Zimbabwe consequently led to a reduction of companies use of banking services which were StanChart’s high value customers. In light of that, Ecocash accounting of over 95% of the mobile money services which are predominantly used by household customers proved to be a new source of value for StanChart to tap into regardless of the low value of individual transactions relative to company accounts transactions.

So increasing transaction value and quantity could be the reason StanChart has finally choosen to harmonize its banking services with Ecocash. This is just my conjecture of course…

The post Standard Chartered Link With Ecocash Service Goes Live Today appeared first on Techzim.

Over the weekend, EcoCash blocked a customer requesting support on their Twitter platform after a request to reverse a transaction went south.

What happened?

Maynard Manyowa, a journalist working for Khuluma Africa and a correspondent for the Daily Maverick in SA, tried to purchase electricity from Powertel for $85. The transaction failed and when he reached out to EcoCash to perform a reversal that’s when the problems began.

Other means?

Customer support informed an incensed Maynard that he would have to use other means to get the service he had just paid for whilst waiting for a refund which would take 72 hours. I don’t really understand why the support guys would urge someone to use ‘other means’ before they refund him. The money he had set aside is with you, so why would you urge him to use other means?

This response predictably incensed Maynard further and led to a Twitter rant where he called out EcoCash for their tendencies in a very aggressive tone which eventually led to EcoCash support blocking him.

We reached out to Econet to get a better understanding of the situation and to establish why he was blocked before his issue was resolved.

Why was Maynard blocked?

EcoCash gave this reason for blocking Maynard:

The customer was blocked to protect other users because he was using extremely abusive language (He was later unblocked after he had calmed down).

Is the issue resolved?

Econet went on to state that the issue had since been resolved and they had reached out to Maynard. Whether that means he has been refunded or not is another thing…

Maynard’s approach

As mentioned above, Maynard’s approach was very hostile and though this may be attributed to his frustration over the handling of the issue by EcoCash, it may not have been the best approach. Some on Twitter even urged him to approach the issue more respectfully. Personally, I think there are two sides to this situation

For Maynard, he had every right to be incensed because issues relating to money are very touchy. At the same time, I do think in any situation where you want to get assistance from anyone insulting support agents and calling them witches and imbeciles may not necessarily help your cause. At the end of the day, we have to understand that support agents are human beings so your approach could affect the way they handle situations.

Be cautious of what you say online…

The use of abusive language is also a slippery slope that could have gotten Maynard in trouble as the use of such language through telecommunications can result in a penalty. This is stipulated in the telecommunications act and though it is never policed it is something to keep in mind when you make complaints. This means that if you are found on the wrong side of the law you can actually be fined or jailed.

On the other hand…

EcoCash still made a huge mistake by blocking him.

As a support agent, you have one job. To support customers and address their issues. Not to block a user. Yes they may say his language was abusive and they wanted to protect users but at the end of the day the tweets were directed at Twitter and if they felt these tweets were abusive they could have just used the reporting function on Twitter and flag his content as inappropriate.

Blocking him becomes a bigger issue, especially before you have resolved the issue at hand. Doing this makes it seem as if you have no care for a particular customer or you are trying to pocket his precious money and from the responses given by EcoCash it’s clear those were not their intentions.

As stated above support agents are human beings but they are also trained to deal with unhappy customers. They should have better defused the situation rather than to block a user which actually infused the situation.

Hopefully, Techzim’s Twitter page is not blocked because we wrote about this. On a more serious note, this could serve as a lesson to EcoCash and other Telcos on how NOT to solve a dispute and we sincerely hope Maynard got his money back.

The post EcoCash Blocked Complaining Customer On Their Social Media; Not A Great Idea appeared first on Techzim.

It seems users are facing challenges with EcoCash platform quite frequently. Transactions have been failing at an alarming rate and back in March Econet blamed some of these errors on their servers. The fact that the errors are still occurring have prompted us to take a closer look at what’s actually happening.

Swipe into EcoCash: A Two-Way Street

The swipe into EcoCash feature relies on communication between two parties and at times this is where the complications arise. Every time a person ‘swipes into EcoCash’ the two entities involved include the person’s bank and their EcoCash account. This means if either the bank’s system or EcoCash is down then the transaction is bound to fail.

This means that EcoCash is not entirely to blame for some of the failures of swipe into EcoCash failures. I believe when they responded suggesting that the fault lies entirely with them and their servers that could have been a more diplomatic approach to avoid tension with their partners (the banks) in the swipe into EcoCash service.

What’s up with the ZESA tokens?

The issue of Zesa tokens has also been contentious and sparked the acrimony between EcoCash and their customer –which resulted in the user being blocked- over the weekend.

It seems that a number of users are having trouble when they purchase electricity via EcoCash. Either the tokens they get are dysfunctional or the transaction is completed but then the customer does not receive a recharge token afterward.

When users reach out to EcoCash they are attended to by a bot which is unable to address their concerns. When we reached out to EcoCash they made it clear that the bots are not an issue because people can always opt out and ask for assistance from a human. Here is the response from Econet:

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) or bots is for the purpose of supporting more customers quicker, and improve the overall customer experience.

However, its use is optional. A customer can choose to chat with a human agent, rather than use AI. To use AI, they have to voluntarily register first, with the option to engage a human agent whenever they feel the need to.

Is there a problem with their customer service?

Usually Econet customer service agents, seem well trained and they give knowledgeable and helpful answers for the most part. The current problems with customer support are thus surprising.

The problem especially with Ecocash related services is that money is a sensitive issue. No one wants any stories told regarding their money whether or not the issues are genuine. Customers will already be frustrated by the time they call customer service agents which further complicates the situation.

For example, if someone buys electricity and the transaction fails they will not be particularly pleased if they are told to wait 72 hours for the transaction to be reversed because that may mean that person is left in the dark for three whole days.

A colleague once went through a failed transaction on Ecocash which almost to cost them an extra year in school. That’s the impact of financial transactions unfortunately.

We are now spoilt

Much of the frustration with these services is also because as consumers we have become spoilt. Before these technologies and services were available we did not wait until power is about to switch off before we bought tokens. We always had contingencies for these things.

Ecocash promising to resolve our issue in 72 hours sounds like too much right now but before Ecocash banking errors took longer, sometimes weeks to resolve. That’s the thing with technology, it makes us quickly forget how it used to be.

But it’s not really our fault

Yes, we may be spoilt but it is the service providers themselves that promise this convenience. Also, once we have used their products we then intergrate them into our lives and expect them to work when we need them to.

The reality is that once service has been delivered in a particular way, the bar will have been set right there and the customer’s expectation will have been set too.

No user expects a service they have been told to rely on to fail when they are in an emergency. For example, if someone is forced (by circumstance) to pay an exam fee  on the deadline they would not want an EcoCash transaction to fail and have to wait 72 hours before they can get that money back.

Service providers should just make their services as reliable as possible because in the case of exam fees they will not necessarily be able to compensate customers for the 12 months required before they can register again.

The post What’s going on with EcoCash Transactions? appeared first on Techzim.

What’s happening in Kenya?

Safaricom and Airtel recently made their mobile money services interoperable. M-PESA and Airtel Money will work together seamlessly removing some of the logistical hassles that were involved in making payments from one mobile money service to the next. A 3^rd player, Telkom – through its recently launched T-kash- is also said to be joining the interoperability at a later date.

With the newly enabled interoperability, M-PESA users can now send money directly to Airtel Money users and have them receive it in their mobile wallet, and vice-versa.

Initially, if an Airtel user sent money to a M-PESA user, the M-PESA user actually had to go to an Airtel Agent to withdraw the money (similar to the current situation with Zim’s mobile money services).

Now, these transactions will be seamless and the move is also meant to bolster competitiveness in Kenya’s mobile money arena. The interoperability is expected to increase competition in the mobile money as Airtel Money is trailing M-PESA, who have 80.8% of the mobile money market in Kenya, by a distance.

The interoperability will increase Airtel Money’s transactions (by users) from the current 0.6 transactions p/m compared to M-PESA’s 6 transactions per month.

The Telcos had been testing the service internally since January and sometime next week it goes live. This got me thinking…

What happened with our own mobile money interoperability?

Back in February, Supa Mandiwanzira, the Minister of ICT and Cyber Security gave a directive to all the Telcos to make their mobile money services interoperable by the 1^st of April, which was 10 days ago!

So, why the silence considering the fact that the directive’s tone made it appear as if all hell would break loose if the Telcos had not complied by the deadline day?

Well, a lot has happened since the directive and it may have played a part in creating this silence.

EcoCash opened their doors to everyone (who has a smartphone)!

It came as a shock when EcoCash began allowing subscribers from NetOne and Telecel to register for EcoCash shortly after the directive by the ICT Ministry. This move may not have necessarily been to facilitate the interoperability but the timing seemed responsive. Right now the closest thing we have to interoperability is this more welcoming version of EcoCash.

The problem is even this is not a universal solution for a number of reasons. If you are a NetOne or Telecel subscriber and you register for EcoCash, the service will only work if you have a smartphone. This is because right now the EcoCash system is only accessible via the app if you use NetOne or Telecel. If you are on either of these networks you cannot access EcoCash via the *151# USSD code. In its current state, the integration is imperfect and does not serve everyone which is the point of interoperability. The wallet to wallet transactions are also not possible which effectively rules out the move by EcoCash as interoperability.

In fact, EcoCash’s move is actually an attempt by them to grow the EcoCash brand as they have probably reached a point where very few new subscriptions to EcoCash are coming from Econet subscribers. This is why they now have to reach out to other networks.

The other networks were in agreement with interoperability

When we reached out to Telecel they welcomed the idea of interoperability and also mentioned that there was a desire to work together from multiple parties. This could suggest that interoperability is on its way but the Telcos and other involved parties are still trying to figure out the best way to approach it.

Give the people what they need!

As stressed before, the people stand to benefit from interoperability. Subscribers will no longer have to have two lines – one being specifically for EcoCash- anymore. Secondly, those who have stuck to one network (particularly those on Telecash and OneMoney) will now be able to access goods and services even if the only payment method is EcoCash.

Sending money to other networks will be much more convenient if interoperability is adopted. For example, if a user sends money from OneMoney to EcoCash, the EcoCash user will not then have to go to an agent to get their money. The money will instantly reflect in their EcoCash wallet. This means in an emergency you don’t have to go look for an agent whilst precious time is being lost.

Secondly, Mandiwanzira made a valid point when he noted that the dominance of EcoCash could be disastrous if their service crashes at any point and this would create utter chaos.

Once this dominance is disrupted, all the mobile money platforms will be competing on offering the best service and not necessarily because one network provider already has more users than others. This would be beneficial to users because they would end up using services based on other factors like which mobile money service has the best transaction charges.

Another result of this dominance is it is difficult to hold EcoCash accountable in case something goes wrong. Right now if you are on EcoCash and you experience troubles, ditching the service is the last resort that you may not take simply because of the inconvenience that would be caused by switching to another service.

The government should follow up on this issue!

Yes, the likelihood of this happening is very unlikely but I think the benefits for people all over the country should compel the government to continue pursuing this issue and make sure that wallet to wallet mobile interoperability becomes a thing.

Of course, the government’s relationship (or at least the previous government’s) with Econet was not very rosy, so usually a directive that stood to put Econet Wireless at a disadvantage people took it very personally but I do not think this is one of those cases.

The post Supa Mandiwanzira’s Deadline Expired: Where Is Mobile Money Interoperability? It’s Already Happening In Kenya appeared first on Techzim.

We have all watched as EcoCash’s dominance has increased in Zimbabwe to near monopoly levels. The mobile money service has become an essential payment method in this country.

Most of us signed up for the service and so were not surprised as details of the dominance were shared. Today, EcoCash has close to 98% market share. Recent developments seem to indicate that EcoCash is actually going to eat into the 2% the competition is starving on.

We know that EcoCash did not get to that position by chance. That is especially so considering that EcoCash was not the first or even the second mobile money solution in the country.

It is then interesting to find out just how Econet managed to overtake the competition. Such a success story deserves to be studied and lessons taken from it.

We at Techzim have taken it upon ourselves to do just that.

Techzim’s write-up on EcoCash looks at the EcoCash journey from pre-launch to its current position. The strategic decisions that Econet made are studied in detail. In easy to read language, the evolution of EcoCash is analysed.

To buy the Techzim Insights on Ecocash write-up simply send the fee of $4.99 to Techzim Merchant Number 83688 and then send an email with the reference number to admin@techzim.co.zw

The post Just How Did EcoCash Come To Be So Dominant? Techzim Analyses Their Strategy appeared first on Techzim.

It is difficult to imagine Ecocash being dethroned from the mobile money throne in Zimbabwe. Every time a stastic about mobile money or payments in general is given the situation seems hopeless for the competition.

Make no mistake, Ecocash are not where they are by accident. They were not first or second with mobile money in Zimbabwe but once they launched their brand became synonymous with mobile money. Seven years later and their position is much more consolidated.

This was achieved very deliberately and they are still making very deliberate decisions to become way more than we see right now. In fact, if the Ecocash strategy interests you can buy the easy to read Techzim Insights’analysis of the Ecocash journey from before they launched all the way to the future of this product/business.

The analysis is of interest to people in the payments space, tech, entrepreneurs and project teams tasked with launching a new product or improving an existing one. Of course anyone who wants to learn the new business strategies of the digital era will find value too. Anyway, back to it:

The race may not be over

Mobile money is still growing in Zimbabwe and the time for service providers to position themselves is right now whilst we still have the cash problems and currency issues we have. This is why OneMoney and Telecash have to be re-imagined and put into the ring more decisively. The fight is not yet over.

Copy is not a dirty word

Strive Masiyiwa himself talks about being a fast follower. When you look at the innovations that have really mattered for his business empire you realise that none of them were original. Original is overrated. There can only be one original TV, car, aircraft…. The original is just of historical significance otherwise the follow up makers of TVs, cars, aircraft… are making lots of money right now: imitators of imitators of imitators…

Telecash and OneMoney should copy Ecocash in allowing non subscribers of Telecel and NetOne respectively to register for the mobile money service. By doing that they will pre-empt  the Ecocash sting and take the competition question away from network effects to service offerings.

Why is this important?

The move by Ecocash to make their services available to non Econet subscribers has revealed the true definition of what mobile money is. Analysis of Ecocash right from the launch shows you that from the onset, Strive Masiyiwa knew that Ecocash was not merely a mobile money service for his MNO.  That lesson was lost on the competition.

Yes, initially Econet took advantage of Ecocash to lure customers to their network but Ecocash was always independent. That was the most crucial decision. Now that Ecocash has saturated more or less their parent company’s subscribers the only way to grow is to have those subscribers transact more and use their service more as well as to register non Econet subscribers. They have started with that now.

Telecash and NetOne should quickly allow registration of non subscribers to their respective MNO’s and then promote their services like crazy.

How did Ecocash recruit customers at the beginning again? They gave every new customer a dollar! That is the scale of things their competition has to do once they allow anyone to register. Give someone who has an Econet line a strong reason to register for OneMoney for example.

Go beyond

OneMoney and Telecash should go beyond what Ecocash has done. They should allow a non subscriber to access their services without the need for internet connection as is the case with Ecocash right now. How do they do this? I don’t know but they can figure it out. I have fuzzy ideas in my head, I am sure they can come up with even better.

Continuing to define mobile money in MNO terms and tying down the service to the enterprise is futile if NetOne and Telecel want to entertain the idea of a comeback.

Ecocash has just launched the Chakachaya ne Ecocash promotion for the second edition running. Unfortunately for NetOne and Telecel the new reality this time around is that this promotion is now directly targeting their subscribers as well becuase their subscribers can be Ecocash customers as long as they have a smart phone. The only way to fight back is to throw exactly the same punch.

Will Telecel and NetOne do it?

They probably won’t. Most times business decisions are made emotionally from a position of pride. This is the one time that human nature has to be challenged and subdued. As Nike aptly puts it: Just do it!

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The post If I Were Telecel Or NetOne, Here’s What I Would Do To Fight Ecocash Dominance appeared first on Techzim.

Well, it seems Netone’s OneMoney team are not resting on their laurels. The mobile money service has just introduced the Fees for less Promotion in anticipation of the upcoming school term.

What is this promotion about?

With the school term just around the corner (8 May), NetOne is offering a great deal to parents who pay fees using OneMoney. The first 100 parents who pay school fees using OneMoney will be getting 100% of that fees back. That means if you are among this first 100, NetOne is essentially paying your child’s/dependant’s fees for you. I suspect this one will be a big deal considering the economic hardships being faced in our country.

500 reasons why schools should sign up!

NetOne probably thought hard and clear and realised that there is no point in encouraging parents/guardians to pay via OneMoney if the schools don’t accept the payment. Most schools are registered with EcoCash but NetOne is trying to ensure that schools also have a OneMoney account as they are promising $500 to the first 50 schools who register. This will probably see way more than 50 schools sign up as the incentive is doubled for schools who will get 500 if they make this 50 whilst also increasing chances of getting fees earlier if parents pay using OneMoney.

There are other prizes to be won as well…

During the promotion, those who pay school fees using OneMoney also stand a chance to win fortnightly vouchers worth $100 dollars. This means more than a 100 parents/guardians stand to benefit.

On the school’s side, they could win a computer lab, generators and one-fi devices so there’s a lot at stake here and both schools and parents/guardians are being given reasons why they should sign up.

How long will this promotion go on?

The Fees for less Promo will be running from the 22^nd of April(today) until the 30^th of May. It might be advisable to pay as early as possible as a lot of people will be trying to get in that esteemed 100 as early as possible.

OneMoney isn’t going down without a fight!

We recently talked about what NetOne and Telecel need to do in order to make sure they catch up or at least offer decent competition to EcoCash. In that article, an example was given of how NetOne and Telecel could give registration incentive as little as a single dollar and that would pull a few people to their mobile money service. With Fees for less NetOne is giving mobile money users way more than that so they will probably get a lot more people to buy in.

NetOne is essentially saying we can offer more than OneFusion

This move targets so many people as well. NetOne probably realised they have subscribers who are already on the network but are only there for OneFusion. Now, because of this promotion, these subscribers will go the extra step and sign up for OneMoney. I mean, if you already have the line you don’t have to go through a process as long as those subscribing to NetOne for the first time, so there’s no reason not to.

Considering the possibilities at hand even those subscribing for the first time have a really good reason to do so. I mean the possibility of getting the entire school fees you pay given back to you is obviously worth putting up with a few queues.

NetOne also understands that the goodwill they will garner from this move is going to be great.

When parents get to talking about howNetOne fully paid them what they had paid for fees, they will not focus on the fact that it was 100 parents who benefitted, but on the fact that NetOne PAID! The amount of goodwill they will get from this will be huge and probably more people will join the service, which is a step in the right direction.

The post Parents, You Can Get All Your Money Back If You Pay School Fees Using NetOne’s OneMoney! appeared first on Techzim.

We are at the Zimswitch Digital Payment Conference in Victoria Falls and the conference will be covering many areas to do with ‘cashless’ solutions and how these can be optimized to offer more efficient solutions.

Mr Saul Chin’anga, a certified Electronic Banking Specialist and the Head of Electronic Banking and Card Services at CBZ Bank, presented on the state of interoperability in the finance industry. It was an interesting presentation and made clear what is currently possible in our country when it comes to financial services which work together seamlessly.

Who are the players?

• Banks, Building Societies and MFIs, Development Institutions, Money Transfer Organizations.
• MNOS – Telecash, EcoCash, One Wallet
• TPPSP (Third-Party Payment Systems) – there appears to be some activity in this space.
• Customers

Interoperability among Banks

Among banks, the interoperability situation is in a good state. They seem to have most angles covered and they have made strides on making their services work together seamlessly.

What is possible:

• Purchases through shared POS infrastructure.
• Deposit collection, school fees and other deposits, where the other banks are not represented.
• Funds transfer through ZIPIT
• Cash withdrawals through ATMs.
• Cash withdrawal in branches

What is not possible:

• Non-financial transactions

Interoperability among Banks and MNOs

The state of interoperability between banks and MNOs is not as seamless as that among banks, but this is a result of the fragmentation of the interoperability in mobile money solutions: a situation we have talked about.

What is Possible

• Banking Services through pull transactions
• Wallet to POS (purchases)
• Agency banking services such as account opening.

What is not possible

• Wallet-to-Wallet transfers
• Making payment direct from bank account to merchant code or vice versa.

Interoperability among MNOs

The interoperability issue among MNOs is one that has been has been causing a stir recently: and the government recently ordered the involved MNOs to make their mobile money services work together seamlessly. By interoperability, we are simply looking at a situation where a user of OneMoney can send money from their mobile wallet directly to an EcoCash wallet.

Mr Chin’anga started by looking at what’s not possible because in terms of MNOs not much is actually possible. There is a lack of flexibility and this is a huge stumbling block.

What is not possible

• Wallet to wallet e-value transfers
• Wallet services to another MNO wallet e.g. airtime purchase etc.
• Paying other MNO merchant with other wallet
• Cash in/out from agent

What’s Possible

• Money transfers between International MTOs and Local Banks, MNOs
• Card Services between Banks and International Card Schemes.

Mr Chin’anga also made it clear that EcoCash opening their doors to subscribers from other networks is not interoperability and this is something we’ve talked about before. Other MNOs have also welcomed the idea of ‘real’ interoperability.

Benefits of Interoperability

Mr Chin’anga then touched on the benefits of Interoperability and here are the thoughts he shared:

• Increase financial inclusion of the marginalised economies and the unbanked.
• Provides ease of doing business and minimises sunk costs for new players.
• Reduces costs of reaching the most outlying parts of the population through the agent network
• Reduces the complexity of originators and recipients of transfers having to visit multiple agents to make transactions different networks which is subject to more fees.
• It helps to establish standards, rules and ease dispute resolution mechanism.
• To agents, it reduces the riskiness of cash flows and costs of holding enough cash through shared cash in/out points
• Increase viability of Agents in poorest regions by thump sacking/ bundling transactions
• Brings about safe and efficient access to banks, no financial institutions and emerging service providers through expanded retail payments systems open to clearing houses

What we need to do to increase interoperability

• We need to limit barriers to entry for new technology. It takes long for players to introduce new technology as the value chain appears to be lethargic.
• The industry objective should override individual interests. It is necessary for players to know that the growth of the industry provides a better and bigger space for all players.
• Avoid fragmented payment ecosystems and strive for one payment ecosystem.
• MNOs need to take note that horizontal interoperability provides the strength needed for vertical integration.
• The cell phone handset has ceased to be a communication gadget, rather it has become a payment gadget. So when we talk of more than 100% cell phone penetration, that must translate to banked ratio.
• How can we achieve a situation where schemes can work together for the development of the market. Zimswitch, Visa, MasterCard and CUP coming together to create a ubiquitous platform.
• How best can the industry promote and accommodate new players offering payment gateways so as to enhance competition and efficiencies.

In conclusion…

In his conclusion, Saul noted that our digital transactions (in Zim) are increasing due to the liquidity crunch in the country. Small retailers are accepting digital payments because that is the only way for them to stay in business.

He also felt we should take the advantage to ensure that we now have full interoperability which will allow us to develop more financial products and services tailored to meet the requirements of our segmented customers.

Join the Livestream…

The event is ongoing and if you are interested in following it LIVE you can click on this link and enjoy the livestream.

The post Zimswitch Digital Payments Conference: The State Of Industry Interoperability appeared first on Techzim.

Well it seems the payment space in Zimbabwe is on the verge of a shakeup and recent evidence in the EcoCash app seems to indicate that customers will soon be able to make payments using QR (Quick Response) codes. I’m not exactly sure when the app was updated to include this feature but all that matters is that it’s there now.

Brace yourselves…

At the recently ended Zimswitch Payment Conference one person I talked to who works in the banking industry sounded pretty confident that within the next 6 months QR codes would be a payment method in the country.

Based off the developments in the EcoCash app it seems the guy was spot on. He stated that a number of different banks were also looking at this payment method so it does seem this technology will be getting adopted sooner rather than later.

The addition of this feature is obviously a forward-looking move as QR payments are yet to actually take off in the country. Last year in March, Ecobank’s mobile app came with QR code functionality that tapped into the Masterpass QR platform but unfortunately it failed to take off. Later on in, October Ecobank launched Scan+Pay in over 30 countries but again it failed to gain traction on the local scene.

QR has been waiting for its moment in the light…

It’s a bit weird that QR has been around for decades but has just never really found a particular use that made it mainstream. It seems that’s about to change as QR is being embraced in a number of countries such as South Africa, China, India and Pakistan etc.

Why QR?

Accessibility

Those of you who read publications such as The Verge and GSM Arena may be wondering why we are adopting QR over other payment methods such as NFC (Near Field Communication) or biometric enabled payment methods. The simple answer is QR is easier to access and in a developing country such as ours, NFC or Biometric payments are not justifiable as the phones that have this technology are not commonly available as they are in developed countries.

QR however is accessible to any phone with a camera and that makes it much more useful as the level of entry for QR is much lower compared to NFC or biometrics. Obviously, those with feature phones are not catered for but there are enough people with smartphones to justify EcoCash taking the QR route.

Speed

Our current payment methods are not exactly quick, especially in the case of mobile money payments. Customers have to dial in the EcoCash shortcode, then select the amount they have to pay before entering their pin. This has resulted in longer wait times at the tills and if you have ever been in a queue at a shop you probably understand that every second you wait there feels like a second wasted. With QR ,however, customers will just get to the till, scan the QR code at the till and voila! Payment made.

Cost

For merchants the QR system will be much cheaper than the current POS system so it seems there’s incentive for both the merchants and the customers.

It may not seem like a huge deal from where you are standing, but I think its great and I look forward to this technology and seriously hope this becomes the primary payment technology in the country.

I’m not sure if the QR payment option is appearing in the EcoCash app for iOS yet as we discovered the feature on Android. The entire Techzim team happens to be on Android by the way, so if you are on iOS it would be grand if you just commented on whether or not the feature is available on the EcoCash app for iOS.

We caught wind of this recent development from a Techzim community group member on Whatsapp. Shout out to Uber Tech, You’re the real MVP!

The post Hassle Free Payments On The Horizon: EcoCash Adds QR As Part Of Payment Methods appeared first on Techzim.