EcoCash has, in a tweet, notified its customers that bill payments and the EcoCash mobile app will be down due to scheduled system maintenance.
The statement reads as follows:
Customer Notice Planned System Maintenance
Dear Valued Customer
Please be advised that we will be carrying out a planned system maintenance on the EcoCash platform from 10pm on Saturday the 13th of February 2021 to 7am on Sunday the 14th of February 2021. During this maintenance, Bill Payment services and the EcoCash Mobile App will not be available. However, all other EcoCash Services will be working normally using (*151# ) during this period.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
At about 07:24 to 08:37 this morning the EcoCash API was completely down. The API (Application Program Interface) is what allows merchants to sell you services and accept payments using your EcoCash wallet.
The outage seemed to be widespread because it affected Paynow for example who’s own API relies on EcoCash’s API architecture. Outages like these are particularly concerning because they affect the burgeoning e-commerce industry that has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
From 08:37 onwards merchants were able to process payments but the system went down again soon after. Hopefully, EcoCash can get this sorted out because there are a lot of businesses that rely on their services to process payments.
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The Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, John Mangudya released the first Monetary Policy Statement for 2021 which detailed the affairs of the financial sector. The statement comes after some massive shifts in the sector like wallet-to-wallet interoperability that was enacted towards the end of Q3 2020 or the launch of the Forex Auction in Q2 of 2020.
Highlights of the Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) 2021 include:
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Strategic Policy Framework
Distribution of Foreign Currency in the Auction as at 9 February 2021
Reserve Money Developments
Monthly Overall and Blended Inflation (%)
Projected Inflation path (January to December 2021)
ZSE All Share and Top 10 Indices
Convergence of Foreign Currency Rates
Total Payment Systems values and volumes from 2016-2020
You can access the full document with the link below
So it appears that EcoCashSave has been shut down by Cassava Smartech. The option for EcoCashSave no longer appears on the USSD menu and it seems to have been replaced by the relaunched KaShagi microloans.
To all those who might not know or may have forgotten. EcoCashSave was a way for EcoCash customers to put a little bit away every month “towards your dreams anytime, anywhere”. The service, in its early days, had some heavy backing by the way of the Waya Waya promotion back in 2013. Econet Wireless was running the promotion (before the Cassava Econet split) and it had prizes amounting to $400k.
2013 was forever ago and as with all things people move on and it seems Cassava has too. However, the shut down of EcoCashSave happened with no announcement. This is a little worrying if there were a collection of people who were using it to store their savings.
The question now is, is there a way for people to withdraw that money they had squirrelled away? To find out more, we reached out to Cassava Smartech but unfortunately, we haven’t yet gotten a response.
It should be said that this move makes sense on Cassava’s end of things. There is no need to keep the service running if only a handful of people are using it. The only reservation we have is that there may have been some diehards who relied on it.
EcoCashSave’s unceremonious disappearance from the USSD is concerning no matter the number of people who used the service.
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Last week we were shocked to see that EcoCashSave had been removed from the *151# USSD. When accessing the menu it appeared that EcoCashSave had been replacing by the relaunched KaShagi microloans. The service which was launched way back was a way for EcoCash customers to save a little whatever they could through their wallet. Its sudden disappearance caused some alarm because we were unsure of how many people used the service and if their savings were affected.
Cassava has finally shed light on the fate of the service:
CUSTOMER NOTICE
Dear Valued EcoCashSave Customer
Kindly be advised that EcoCashSave has been temporarily suspended with effect from March 6, 2021, as work begins to migrate the service to a new platform and enhance the product features. The service will be re-introduced in the coming months.
In the meantime, Customer balances in EcoCash$ave account have been transferred to the EcoCash$ave account holders’ EcoCash wallet, to allow customers access to their funds during the transition. Please note that only individual EcoCash$ave accounts have been suspended. EcoCash Savings Club accounts remain available.
We thank you for your support all along, and for your patience as we migrate and repackage the product. We sincerely regret the inconvenience this may cause.
For any further enquiries. please dial 114 or SMS the word HELP, to 0771 222114.
It seems like EcoCash/Cassava hasn’t binned the project as we feared. The only issue is that EcoCash waited this long to tell its “Valued Customers” what will happen to their funds.
But… Cassava/EcoCash didn’t give a return date for the service. They did, however, mention that the EcoCash Savings Club is still up. I don’t know about you but it might mean that the savings club may be replacing EcoCashSave. But then again we will have to wait to see in the “coming months” if the service will indeed be relaunched.
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Despite the mobile money restrictions which were a feature of the second half of 2020 (till present date), EcoCash and OneMoney grew in Q4 2020. Overall mobile money subscriptions increased by 2.7 % from 6 325 666 subscribers in Q3 to 6 495 682 at the end of the year according to the POTRAZ Q4 2020 report.
Individually, OneMoney was the biggest mover with a 9.6% increase in subscriptions. EcoCash followed far behind with a marginal gain of 1.9% while Telecash lost 72.8%!
Q3 2020
Q4 2020
Difference
EcoCash
5 425 148
5 553 981
1.9%
OneMoney
854 320
936 476
9.6%
Telecash
19 198
5 222
-72.8%
Total
6 325 666
6 495 682
2.7%
POTRAZ Q4 2020 Report
OneMoney’s ascent makes sense since the RBZ mandated that individuals can only have one mobile money wallet per MMO. EcoCash being the biggest was always going to suffer as many people were looking for a second mobile money wallet.
The “one mobile money wallet directive” was something that we thought would help Telecash. But it appears the market doesn’t have any confidence in the mobile money operator. Telecash was the only MMO to not show any growth in Q4 2020 and the trend follows what we have been seeing over the years.
Mobile money market share
OneMoney has been on the up of late and it continued to eat into EcoCash and Telecash’s market share.
POTRAZ Q4 2020 Report
As the chart above shows OneMoney made up 0.9% of the mobile money market share that was leeched by EcoCash and Telecash. As impressive as this may be for OneMoney, it is still miles behind when it comes to the value of transactions.
Number and value of mobile money transactions Q4 2020
Having the largest mobile money market share EcoCash, as expected, dominated both in value of transactions and number of transactions.
POTRAZ Q4 2020 Report
In this category, OneMoney only made gains in the number of transactions, with a 0.27% increase from Q3. In the value of transactions however OneMoney was the only MMO to regress with -0.06% from 4.16% in Q3 2020 to 4.10% in Q4 2020.
EcoCash is still the biggest player and even though the number of transactions slumped by 0.28%. The mobile money operator improved in the value of transactions with a 0.04% increase.
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The one thing that I thought OneMoney had going for it was the 20% discount for NetOne airtime purchases. This offer was very enticing and was one of the reasons why I opened a OneMoney wallet. In what I think is a strange turn of events OneMoney has reduced the airtime discount offer from 20% to 10%.
In POTRAZ’s sector performance report for Q4 2020, OneMoney was the biggest mover with a 9.6% increase in subscriptions from Q3 2020. OneMoney was able to add just under 100 000 new subscribers to record 936 479 in Q4 2020. The nation’s second-largest mobile money operator has been able to boost its number because of two key events/reasons.
The first is that OneMoney has grown increasingly popular with money changers. When the hammer was being down on EcoCash last year, money changers reportedly made OneMoney their back up mobile money wallet.
The second reason is, of course, the directive the RBZ issued that banned multiple mobile money wallets on one MMO (mobile money operator). If you were accustomed to having two EcoCash wallets then you had to find an alternative and the next best is OneMoney.
As a result of these two factors and some others, OneMoney has been steadily making strides to reaching the 1 million mark.
OneMoney subscriber numbers in 2020
Q4 2019
Q1 2020
Q2 2020
Q3 2020
Q4 2020
Active Subscriptions
468 960
555 255
892 963
854 320
936 479
POTRAZ
Why has OneMoney halved the airtime discount when 1 million is so close?
OneMoney may have missed out on an opportunity to make up even more ground to EcoCash. They could have marketed the 20% discount heavily and announced that they were nearing the 1 million mark. In a similar fashion to the GigaThanks Promotion, OneMoney could have run a number of other parallel promotions to boost the surge to 1 million.
More importantly OneMoney could have started putting a significant dent in EcoCash’s dominance when it comes to value and number of mobile money transactions. In Q4 2020, EcoCash comfortably commanded
Over 84% of mobile money market
97.98% of mobile money transaction volumes
95.79% of the value of mobile transactions
That being said, OneMoney has been ever so slowly eating away at EcoCash’s lead. But the margins are very very small.
At any rate, OneMoney will hit 1 million sometime this quarter (if it hasn’t already). And 10% is better than 0%, but halving the promotion as OneMoney approaches a major milestone is, in my opinion, not a very good look.
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It looks like the folks at OneMoney are now making a serious push to one million subscribers as well as looking to make some serious strides to closing the transaction gap to EcoCash. In a tweet by parent company NetOne, OneMoney is running a promotion where it is giving subscribers 500MB of data if they make a ZWL$1000 deposit into their wallet.
Once you make the ZWL$1000 (or more) deposit you will receive a voucher within 24 hours. The 500MB is of course for NetOne and you will have a 48 hr window to use the data.
Funding options for the OneMoney 500MB promotion are Bank to Wallet, a transfer from another OneMoney account or via ZIPIT. Customers are eligible to receive the free OneMoney 500MB data once a week and the promotion is running from the 29th of March to the 28th of June 2021.
This is actually brilliant, and here’s why
OneMoney and NetOne have suffered from a similar problem. Both companies have been able to add subscribers quarter to quarter according to POTRAZ but haven’t been able to convert that customer acquisition into the metrics that matter.
In Q4 OneMoney and NetOne were both able to add subscribers (81 540 and 236 037 respectively) as they try to narrow the chasm that separates them from Econet and EcoCash. However, even though they are making strides OneMoney and NetOne are still lagging behind in market share in their respective spheres.
This new OneMoney promotion is a way of hitting two birds with one stone. For OneMoney, it gets a slew of deposits that customers will just end up using to buy in stores as well as purchase NetOne services. The biggest one is of course the 10% discount OneMoney subscribers get for purchasing NetOne airtime.
The 500MB promotion could also help OneMoney make inroads in the share of volume and value of mobile money transactions. At present, the mobile money operator has 1.98% for the number of transactions and 4.10% for the value of transactions. EcoCash, on the other hand, comfortably commands 97.98% for the number of mobile transactions and 95.79% for the value of Zimbabwe’s mobile money transactions.
For NetOne this could help with closing the gap in the mobile data market. Econet gained 8.1% of the mobile data market share (78.4%) shrinking NetOne to 21.0% in Q4 from the 21.9% the MNO had in Q3 2020. The data “free” data will have a lot of people streaming over to NetOne.
Data isn’t cheap and I can imagine people could start saying “send the money to my OneMoney” to get themselves entered into this promotion.
OneMoney needs to learn from EcoCash rewards
If this is to work, OneMoney needs to learn from the laggy nature of EcoCash rewards. I recently got my rewards for December 2020 when I had totally forgotten that EcoCash rewards was a thing. OneMoney needs to stick to its promise of customers getting their voucher in 24 hours or they will suffer the same fate as EcoCash’s rewards program.
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The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has said that it has received a litany of complaints from people saying that they have lost money to an EcoCash WhatsApp scam. The reported figure for the money lost at present is said to be in the region of US$100 million.
In a report by The Herald, the people behind this are using stolen identities and are contacting friends and relatives of people they are impersonating in WhatsApp groups either asking for financial assistance or changing US dollars at above-market rates.
“So far, complainants across the country have lost around US$100 million and investigations are in progress. We have to do something to deal with the technical fraud once and for all”
Paul Nyathi, ZRP Assistant Commmisioner (via The Herald)
Its easy to see how this can be done, because for all intents and purposes those in the group will belive that they are helping out a friend or family memeber.
How they are doing this, as reported by the police, is through hijacking the person’s SIM and then, of course, jumping on that individuals WhatsApp account and then offering these forex deals. When a member of this WhatsApp group has sent them money via EcoCash, the imposter then disappears.
On the impersonated victim’s side, they will not know this is happening because if someone replaces your SIM, all you are left with is a dead phone line with no network. At this point, I can imagine, it would be difficult to seek assistance from Econet over the phone because you are effectively no longer registered.
The actual owner of the line might also assume that there is something going on with the network. We are all accustomed to network drops these days so they would be none the wiser.
According to the ZRP, a pensioner lost ZWL$29 000 after paying out to these criminals. Three more people in Bulawayo lost ZWL$30 000 after being promised to be given the equivalent in foriegn currency.
Worse still someone in Bindura reportedly lost ZWL$123 000 after being promised US$10 000 in return.
This racket was only found out, as earlier stated, when one of the victims of the impersonation (when asked) said that their phone had lost network and had no knowledge of the transactions.
Earlier on we reported on the EcoCash WhatsApp scam that has, according to the police, lost Zimbabweans US$100 million and counting. Now when we looked over what was being reported a few things didn’t add up.
US$100 million over EcoCash?
According to The Herald, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) noted that over the last two months it received complaints of the EcoCash WhatsApp scam totalling the equivalent of US$100 million.
Now, I don’t know about you but that’s a lot of money to have been reported over the last two months even if the reports date back further. To put that figure into perspective that’s 4 times the amount that was traded at last week’s Forex Auction! This is for both the main and SMEs auction (US$25 250 768.95). US$100 million is also a tenth of what was remitted to Zimbabwe in 2020.
If we are to convert the US dollar total to ZWL$, at 1:100 as an example, results in ZWL$10 billion! Why I making those comparisons and conversions is because EcoCash has a ZWL$35000 transaction limit per week.
At the current weekly limit, the scammers would have needed to rip off roughly 300 000 EcoCash users at different times. If something like this had been happening (at this scale), I am pretty sure there wouldn’t have been more than the “several” complaints that the ZRP received.
Now, this isn’t to say that the scams weren’t happening, our sources at EcoCash confirmed the problem. However, both Econet and EcoCash, could not give an official comment or any details on the issue as it is an ongoing investigation.
You can only scam people for so long
Saying that the scammers would have needed to impersonate 300 000 people might sound as inflated as the US$100 million figure. However, there are only so many lies you can tell before you are found out.
I am sure that scammers know that a mark is only good for one maybe two tricks before they catch on to what is going on. Even if we account for the fact that they were operating this EcoCash scam in WhatsApp groups. It still doesn’t rule out that they would have needed a bunch of unique identities in order to garner the sum that was reported.
This raises the question, How were they able to get people’s lines to get on to their WhatsApp accounts and EcoCash wallets?
Well… it could have been through Sim replacements
As we reported earlier the criminals behind this were able to steal a person’s number and then ask for financial assistance or offer US dollars at an above market rate in the victim’s WhatsApp groups.
The only way you can hijack a person’s line to gain the access the scammers got is by replacing that person’s Sim card. Now, that’s not the easiest thing to do because for you to replace someone’s sim card you’ll need to have:
A police report, detailing that you have indeed lost the SIM.
Positive identification like your ID card or passport.
In the case of a corporate line, you’ll also need a signed letter on top of the other requirements.
Of all the things mentioned above the key to all of that is positive identification. As you are all aware by now, I am Techzim’s resident paranoid sceptic and the first thing that crossed my mind was Fake IDs.
Fraudulent identification cards aren’t only found in movies but are a real problem worldwide. Back in 2017, the Registrar’s Office was on the lookout for criminals who were printing fake IDs.
“The Registrar-General security got a tip off about criminals who are printing fake national identity documents and sought the assistance of the police to arrest the culprits,”
In this case, however, the scammers would have needed to have the correct ID number and the correct phone numbers to replace SIM cards.
The imposter’s photo would of course be there to give the Econet attendant visual identification so they can start the process. The police report step of the process would also need some sort of ID.
Now if the scammers were able to obtain the appropriate documents to get someone’s Sim card replaced the question now is…
Is there no digital ID on record that Econet & the ZRP can refer to?
If it is indeed a case of fake IDs then wouldn’t Econet and the ZPR on their part need to have a digital record or copy of an ID so they can begin the process?
Well on this we aren’t too sure but there is something that happened a while ago that could be the source of the problem. Late last year Econet opened up its SIM replacement services to its partner agencies and franchisees.
Although we have an extensive network of over 50 shops and franchisees across the country, for the convenience of our customers, our preferred customer service approach is to interface through digital channels and our self-care portals. One of the main drivers of traffic into our shops were sim-card replacements.
Our customers will soon be able to have a sim replacement at any of our partner agencies in addition to our shops, allowing for more service channels to be opened up.
However this measure sort of created a few problems. How much access did Econet give its partner agencies to its systems? Were the requirements for positive identification lowered? Could a simple visual of the ID and the corresponding ID number stored in the system be enough to replace a Sim card?
On the side of the ZRP, the case is the same. Are the Police verifying the IDs that they are processing to something on a digital or physical record?
Again these are things that we aren’t too sure about but if you’ve gone through this please process leave us a comment.
In closing
As you can see this whole WhatsApp EcoCash scam situation is a mess. There are far too many variables and a number of failure points that could have made this possible.
However what all of this reveals (at least to us) is that EcoCash isn’t alone in this. As previously mentioned the sum that is being talked about would have required the scammers a way of transacting outside the ZWL$35000 a week limit placed on EcoCash.
But this is after all an ongoing investigation and I am sure that we will hear more about this matter in the coming days or weeks.
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EcoCash and its parent company Cassava Smartech have released a statement concerning the US$100 million WhatsApp scam that has been making the rounds in the press. In the initial report by The Herald this morning it said that criminals were able to hack the EcoCash & WhatsApp accounts of individuals in order to impersonate them and make off with money after offering their friends and family above market rate forex deals.
EcoCash and Cassava have reposnded to this claim and said the following:
Public Notice Warning: Guard Against Fraud
EcoCash is aware of reports of fraud, where unsuspecting EcoCash customers have lost money to criminals using false identities after they harvest customers’ mobile phone numbers from social media platforms like WhatsApp.
EcoCash wishes to assure the public and our valued customers that the EcoCash system has NOT been hacked and remains safe and secure. EcoCash urges customers to be vigilant against fraud by checking the identity of people they send money to and by not sharing their EcoCash PIN with anyone.
EcoCash further urges customers to report all suspected cases of fraud to the police, or to Ecocash through our SMS helpline 0771 222 114 or to EcoCash’s nearest channel partners.
Thank you for your continued support Live Life the EcoCash Way EcoCash Cassava Smartech
To add to what EcoCash has said, we think it would be prudent to properly confirm the identity of a friend or family member who suddenly offers you a forex deal that’s too good to be true.
What we mean by this is that you should call the person to make sure that they are indeed who they say they are. This isn’t only for changing RTGS to USD but for anything that involves the exchange of money on EcoCash or even a bank transfer.
This might seem like overkill but the alternative is losing money to someone who has gained access to your friend or relative’s number and EcoCash Wallet.
They would then go into WhatsApp group chats and offer forex deals at above-market rates. They targeted groups that mainly had family or friends to increase the likelihood of someone jumping on to the deals.
The scammers were able to make off with a reported US$100 million, which might be an inflated figure because of EcoCash’s limit among other things.
Arrests have been made
There has been a development in the story, we have received information from an impeccable source that the ring leaders have been arrested. What we know at the moment is that three individuals are in police custody and appeared in court today.
The question might sound strange because EcoCash is pretty an institution when it comes to payments in Zimbabwe. However, when it comes to issues like the cost of transactions, OneMoney and Telecash are far more reasonable than EcoCash.
Furthermore, interoperability ushering in a new age in Zimbabwe. We thought that the public would dabble with the other mobile money operators. However, from POTRAZ’s reports, it looks like OneMoney (we will say nothing of Telecash) is not gaining ground on EcoCash as fast as we thought.
Q3 2020
Q4 2020
Difference
EcoCash
5 425 148
5 553 981
1.9%
OneMoney
854 320
936 476
9.6%
Telecash
19 198
5 222
-72.8%
Total
6 325 666
6 495 682
2.7%
Maybe that’s because many are now transacting out of their bank accounts to go around the ZWL$35 000 a month limit. Or that people are just content with EcoCash as a service and prefer the devil they know…
This among many other things is something that we thought we should have a conversation about to gauge our stance on this new era of payments in Zimbabwe.
Zimswitch has become the focal point of the national payments system even more after it assumed the role as the nation switch. But why is company prioritising USD payments over local currency payments in this era of e-commerce?
We had a conversation with Aidan Gamble from Inclusive Access Zimbabwe about the digital divide that exists for people with disabilities in the country.
Towards the end of last month, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe announced that it would be selling forex to registered Bureaux de Change which they would be allowed to sell on to their customers/public. This was, according to the RBZ, in an effort to help small to medium enterprises and individuals access forex. It seems like there were some in the media who had been asking questions about EcoCash’s position as a remittance service as well as a Bureau de Change.
The Cassava Fintech run company released the following statement clarifying the services it offers in relation to foreign currency:
CUSTOMER NOTICE
EcoCash Remittances and Bureaux de Change (BdC) services
EcoCash is aware of recent media interest on some aspects of its Remittance and Bureaux de Change services. EcoCash would like to reassure its valued customers and the public that it is licenced under the Exchange Control Act to provide both international remittances and Bureaux de Change services. EcoCash has been offering international remittances to the public under the existing conditions for more than 7 years and Bureaux de Change services for more than 2 years.
1. ZWL and FCA EcoCash wallets
Every EcoCash customer has 2 EcoCash wallets; the primary Zimbabwe Dollar wallet which is used for local transactions and a multicurrency FCA wallet for free funds. The FCA wallet has been in use since the re-introduction of the multicurrency regime under S.I 85 of 2020 and the wallet is designated to handle free funds with applicable tariffs on all transactions.
As EcoCash, we are an Agent of several international remittance organisations as their last-mile partner. There are 3 options for receiving international remittances namely; Cash Pick Up, Credit into Bank Account and Credit into a Mobile Wallet. It is the choice of the Sender to select the option they would like the recipient here in Zimbabwe to receive the funds. For all remittances terminating into the EcoCash FCA wallet, the customer has a choice to either withdraw exclusively from Econet shops as cash or convert the funds into local currency through our Bureau de Change facility at the prevailing Auction rate.
2. Bureaux de Change (BdC)
As a licensed BdC EcoCash offers its customers a platform to sell foreign currency at the prevailing rates prescribed by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Foreign Exchange Auction system.
Where customers need any assistance, kindly contact our toll-free customer support number 114 or SMS our helpline 0771 222 114.
Now, for those of you who might have not known what this was, you can be forgiven because as far we can tell the promotion didn’t run for all that long.
But a brief description of the Win a Cow Promotion was that you would be entered to win one of fifteen cattle if you made bank to wallet transactions using your EcoCash wallet. The strategy looks similar to that of the much-derided EcoCash Rewards, which sought to entice users to transact more on the platform.
Why EcoCash is piling on the promotions
The reasons behind the EcoCash Win a Cow and Rewards programs have everything to do with the RBZ’s restrictions on mobile money. The first and biggest that hurt the country’s largest mobile money operator (MMO) was the ZWL$5,000 a day which then became the ZWL$35,000 a week transaction limit.
These limits drastically reduced the flow of money that EcoCash was used to, meaning that they would get less money from transaction charges. The second reason was the one mobile money wallet per MMO directive that was issued by the RBZ’s Monetary Policy Committee. This measure was to limit how many wallets individuals could have on one carrier. And meant that people who were accustomed to moving a lot of money on two or more mobile money wallets couldn’t do that anymore.
On EcoCash’s end, they preempted the projected downturn with promotions that would get people on existing wallets a reason to use them more frequently.
Are the promotions working?
Well… the Rewards program seems to have worked as intended according to the data recorded by POTRAZ.
Market share of mobile money transactions
Q1 2020
Q2 2020
Q3 2020
Q4 2020
EcoCash market share of transactions
98.31%
97.47%
98.26%
97.98%
Variance from quarter to quarter
–
-0.84%
+0.79%
-0.28%
Market share for value of transactions
Q1 2020
Q2 2020
Q3 2020
Q4 2020
EcoCash market share of transactions
95.92%
92.17%
95.75%
95.79%
Variance from quarter to quarter
–
-3.75
+3.58
+0.04%
EcoCash saw an appreciation in both value of transactions and the number of transactions in the third quarter after a dip in Q2 2020. The third quarter of 2020 was when the new regulations were introduced and many speculated that these two categories were where EcoCash was going to be hurt the most with customers dabbling with the other MMOs. However, this didn’t happen on the scale that many imagined. If anything EcoCash just got a lot stronger in contrast to Telecash and OneMoney who haven’t been able to make a significant dent yet.
EcoCash Win a Cow promotion’s abrupt end does little to inspire confidence
So… The Rewards program was a win for EcoCash but not so much for their customers. It was plagued with a number of issues the first being the auto-redeem points system. The idea was that when you have accrued the threshold number of points, EcoCash would then give you your winnings at the end of each month for the six months the promotion was active.
However, many people were super upset when they didn’t get what was promised which then pushed EcoCash to offer its customers a way to redeem the points themselves. And this went as well as the auto redeem function because from what we saw on social media not a lot of people were able to redeem their points at the end of the month.
And with the seemingly abrupt end of the EcoCash Win a Cow Promotion, it easy to see why customers are losing confidence and even making fun of the country’s largest MMO. Check out the comments on the Facebook post EcoCash put out announcing the end of the promotion.
Worse still there was little in the way of an explanation as to why the promotion was being discontinued. This could mean that whenever EcoCash says it’s hosting another promotion, most people are going to want an opt-out option because of the events of the previous two.
If for nothing else, just to escape the litany of SMSes that come with any new EcoCash promotion.
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EcoCash over the weekend prematurely cancelled its Win a Cow, Bank to Wallet promo without as much as a word of explanation. This, at face value, reflected poorly on Zimbabwe’s biggest mobile money operator because their previous promotion was lacklustre (on the customer end) and the cancellation of the following promo tanked the value of any other promotions to come because, from the comments on EcoCash’s posts, people sounded like they were done with them.
However, there was something that we failed to consider when we covered the story. Now, the following tippy toes into the realm of speculation, but there are glimmers that show that this was yet another chapter in the war the RBZ and the banks have waged on EcoCash. Because, as I am sure you already know, Bank to Wallet transactions are under RBZ prescribed limits, ZWL$10 000 per transaction and ZWL$150 000 a month.
Furthermore, there is nothing that says that EcoCash couldn’t run a promotion on any of the services it offers. What we may have witnessed, and why EcoCash couldn’t give an explanation for cancelling the promotion, was the RBZ and the banks making a statement on the new order in the payments space.
The balance of power in the payments space
I have to hand it to EcoCash for being inventive with the one and a half transaction promotions it ran. With the introduction of the mobile money limit (ZWL$35,000 a week), banks overnight became the go-to if you wanted to transact without having to “tot up” each purchase to make sure you were still within the mandated limit.
Moreover, the banks made it a hell of a lot easier to open an account. FBC dealt the first blow by giving anyone who wanted an account the chance to open a full KYC account via USSD and the FBC bank app. This was a godsend for the unbanked because they didn’t need the internet or visit a branch in order to open an account and could start transacting as soon as they got an account number.
Seeing the success of this move other banks followed suit but most like NMB and Nedbank allowed only for customers to open KYC-Lite accounts via the various banking platforms. But to be honest it’s better than nothing considering the restrictions that were now on mobile money.
On EcoCash’s side of things, they weren’t going to lie down. EcoCash immediately sprung into action and launched a transaction based rewards program. EcoCash Rewards was a way for subscribers to earn points that would be converted to money once the threshold was reached.
The program was a success, at least for EcoCash, because it brought their value of transactions and volumes back to the levels they were before the RBZ enacted the transaction limits according to POTRAZ’s reports. So, it makes sense that EcoCash would double down on the promotions.
However, the banks are now in control of the payments space which leads us to believe that EcoCash running a promotion that involved the banks was kicking dirt into the eye of the banking sector just when had attained alpha status.
EcoCash bank to wallet promo was cheeky but bold move
I am going to begin this section by commending EcoCash yet again for showing some serious ingenuity. With the conclusion of the rewards program, EcoCash couldn’t pull the same trick twice. They had to target another element of their wallet services to entice users to transact.
The next port of call was Bank to Wallet which is a popular transaction, especially when you want to pay informal traders who prefer an EcoCash transfer over ZIPIT.
Now, here comes the problem. As long as EcoCash continued to run promotions within its own ecosystem, the banks wouldn’t be bothered. However, roping in a transaction that involved bank accounts was going to raise issues.
This is of course because the whole reason for the National Switch directive and mobile money limit was to disincentivise people from using their EcoCash wallets. The RBZ, as previously alluded to, was handing over power to the banks after they were gutted by the rise of mobile money. For EcoCash to incentivise a reverse flow of money (from Bank to Wallet) was a massive problem and could have been the reason why the Win a Cow promotion was abruptly discontinued.
It could also have been the reason why EcoCash never gave an explanation for the promotion’s cancellation, because if we are correct the only body with the power to cancel the promotion was the RBZ, at the behest of the banks, of course.
Banks won this round but they also stood to gain from the Win A Cow promo
If it is indeed true that the banks objected to EcoCash’s Win a Cow promotion and got the RBZ to can it. Then they may have, on the one hand, shot themselves in the foot. What I mean by this is that your bank charges you for making bank to wallet transfer.
Bank
Minimun Amount (ZWL$)
Charge for the transacted amount
First Capital
50.00
3%
ZB Bank
30.00
2%
Agribank
–
2%
NBS
40.00
2.5%
POSB
40.00
2.5%
FBC
–
3%
CBZ
10.00
5%
BancABC
10.00
2.5%
Stanbic Bank
50.00
2%
NMB
20.00
2.5%
CABS
100.00
2%
Nedbank
30.00
1.5%
As of 22/01/2021. We are assuming there is also the addtion of the 2% Tax
If the EcoCash Bank to Wallet promotion was anything like the Rewards program then the banks were in line to make something out of this. The amounts may have been negligible because of just how many banks there are spread over EcoCash’s just over 5.5 million subscribers but the point is they weren’t going to lose anything.
On the other hand, whatever money was to be made was nothing compared to keeping EcoCash in its place. The banks are finally at the top of the food chain and the notion of giving customers a reason to transact with EcoCash especially through funds in accounts they house might have been a bridge too far.
In short, making a statement was far more beneficial than any projected income from a promotion run by a competitor.
EcoCash goes back to the drawing board
I may have not made it abundantly clear, so maybe I should begin this section by saying that this is unfair on EcoCash. They were, at least from our vantage point, not doing anything incorrect or unlawful. All they managed to do was to rile up powers that are beyond them.
What EcoCash has most assuredly learned from this (if our assumptions are true) is that they should steer clear of the banks. It will only end in tears if they attempt something that involves bank to wallet or any other promotion remotely related to bank accounts.
However, this should by no means dull EcoCash’s zeal for inventing new ways of increasing transactions. The Rewards program came out of the blue and much like it I suspect that there is more on the way from the country’s biggest mobile money operator.
Quick NetOne, Econet, And Telecel Airtime Recharge
EcoCash has released a statement warning customers to be vigilant especially where it concerns account hijacks or takeovers:
Public Notice Warning: Guard Against Fraud
EcoCash is aware of reports of fraud, where unsuspecting EcoCash customers have lost money to criminals using false identities after they harvest customers’ mobile phone numbers from social media platforms such as WhatsApp.
EcoCash wishes to assure the public and our valued customers that the EcoCash system has NOT been hacked and remains safe and secure.
EcoCash urges customers to be vigilant against fraud by checking the identity of people they send money to and by not sharing their EcoCash PIN with anyone.
EcoCash further urges customers to report all suspected cases of fraud to the police, to Ecocash through the SMS helpline 0771 222 114, or to EcoCash’s nearest channel partners.
The statement put out by EcoCash looks like the same they put out a while ago when the EcoCash WhatsApp US$100 million scam was at its height. In that instance, there were criminals who were stealing identities and taking over EcoCash accounts through illegal Econet sim swaps.
Adding on to the warning published by EcoCash here are a couple more things that you should be mindful of:
If your line suddenly goes dead, as in no network, bars or reception, for an extended period of time you should go to your nearest Econet Shop. Or if this is beyond working hours, use Econet’s WhatsApp and Web platform or contact them on social media. If you live with someone who has an Econet line, contact EcoCash customer services as soon as possible.
Should a friend or loved one ask in a group for an EcoCash transfer in the form of a plea for help, forex deal or anything else. Please call them to make sure that it is indeed the person you know.
One side effect of Statutory Instrument 127 of 2021 is that I have observed an uptick in the use of the RTGS dollar. This is driven in part by increased usage of mobile money, swipe and ZIPIT. Thanks to the new law people would rather buy using RTGS as most popular shops no longer offer USD discounts. Having gotten used to cash a lot of people have been relearning electronic transactions and some have fallen prey to savvy scammers. One trending trick is the fake Ecocash SMS. This is how it works:
The scammer downloads a texting app or opens a texting website on their phone
When you ask for payment they ask for your phone number as if they are about to send you money via Ecocash
Instead they use a premade fake Ecocash transaction confirmation message. They edit the template by inserting the amount of the current transaction.
They then change the from field in the app to +263164 or Ecocash
The SMS is then sent to your phone making it appear as if you have received money from said individual
You give them your money or goods
When you try to transact you discover that your Ecocash wallet is empty. You never received the money.
This is where I point out that there are variations to this scam. The message might be worded differently or you might not even receive the message about there being an upgrade. The scam can also involve ZIPIT or even traditional RTGS transfers. In essence, the scammer is presenting fake proof of payment. It’s a confidence scam and usually, the criminal is unassuming and tries to appear trustworthy in order to knock you off your game.
How to stop such attacks dead in their tracks?
Vigilance is the name of the game. You need to be always alert when transacting with other people especially where electronic transfers are involved. Now that I think about it, you need to be vigilant even when transacting using cash, otherwise, you will be tricked using fake bills.
Anyway, back to electronic transactions, you need to be very alert and infuse a bit of paranoia in there too. The following tips will serve you well:
Whenever possible use the “online” payment method to receive Ecocash as opposed to having people send money to your phone. Most Point of Sale (POS) machines support this method. This is where you enter the customer’s number and they receive a prompt on their phone, enter their mobile wallet pin and the POS confirms the transfer. This is safer for everyone involved. Invest in this if you are a merchant.
Pay attention to the confirmation message you receive. Read it and make sure it indeed corresponds to other messages.
Make sure you get a message that shows what you have received, from whom, the approval code and your final balance. Scammers in most cases cannot fake this unless you told them your balance in advance.
For large/material transactions make sure to check your balance before you deliver service or hand over the goods.
For banks, checking your balance is free if you use internet banking because most banking platforms are now zero-rating. There is therefore no excuse for you not to check your balance after each ZIPIT/Swipe transaction.
EcoCash has in a statement announced that it’s Zimswitch services are down.
CUSTOMER NOTICE
EcoCash/Zimswitch service interruption
Dear Valued Customers, Please be advised that you may experience intermittent service disruptions on EcoCash / Zimswitch transactions due to a technical challenge.
Efforts are underway to restore normal service as soon as possible. All other EcoCash services remain unaffected by the disruption and remain fully available.
For any further assistance, kindly contact our toll-free customer support number 114 or SMS our helpline 0771 222 114
We tried an EcoCash Bank to Wallet transaction and we got the following error:
It looks like the outage affecting Zimbabwe Shared Services (ZSS) has now stretched to EcoCash and could be affecting mobile money. Since banks like BancABC have been affected by the outage, it stands to reason that ZSS has a pivotal part to play in the communication of services across mobile money and traditional financial institutions.
EcoCash last week on Twitter put out a notice to its customers notifying them of a Know Your Customer (KYC) or account details update excercise. The message from EcoCash reads as follows:
Dear Valued Customer, Please be advised that we will be carrying out an exercise to update customer details on cur Ecocash system.
When you receive a message from us please ensure your name, surname end ID number are captured correctly on our system. To correct your details please dia1 *150# and go to option 7 and follow the instructions.
For security reasons, please note that *150# is the only channel being used to correct customer details. We will not call or text asking for any details.
For any further assistance, kindly contact our toll-free customer support number 114 or ems our helpline 0771 222114.
