EcoCash has removed all processing fees for cash transfers
designated as Covid-19 relief, to enable the Government, Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) and other relief institutions to freely support vulnerable
groups and communities at no extra cost.
Mr Eddie Chibi, CEO for Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe, the
holding company of EcoCash, today said the company’s goal was to use its
digital solutions to address the epidemic.
“We are a digital capability company and our goal is to
create as many digital solutions as possible to address the current Covid-19
crisis so that lives are saved, first and foremost,” said Mr Chibi.
“The wide distribution of some of our products and services
means that we can use our platform and smart data network to reach even the
most vulnerable in our country, and create services that bring convenience to
millions of citizens.”
Mr Chibi said they were working with Government and
development agencies to avail their platform and digital services network to
deliver relief where its needed most “as quickly as possible”.
Mobile money and digital electronic transfers become a
vital mechanism through which help can be extended to vulnerable groups in
times of crisis, speedily and in a convenient and safe manner.
The EcoCash platform has over 11 million customers
registered in Zimbabwe and accounts for the bulk of transaction volumes
processed in Zimbabwe. It has over 200 000 outlets, accounting for the
country’s largest distribution network of agents, merchants and partners for
the payments of good and services.
During the Covid-19 epidemic, the ability for people to
send money and pay merchants (shops, pharmacies, hospitals, and many others)
through their mobile phones minimises the need for physical contact, and
therefore lowers the risk for potential transmission of the virus between
individuals.
Zimbabwe is among the countries with the highest level of
digital financial inclusion in Africa.
EcoCash launched proximity payments two years ago, a
proposition that allows shop till operators to enter a customer’s number on a
point of sale (POS) machine and the customer receives a push message at ‘far
proximity’ confirming the payment on their mobile phone. EcoCash is currently
working with supermarkets to increase the adoption of proximity payments,
according to its CEO Ms Natalie Jabangwe.
Ms Javangwe said: “Customers should be able to order over
the phone or online and make a proximity payment from the comfort of their home
without the need to travel to the shop. Our partnership with Vaya makes goods
delivery safe and convenient”.
She said so far,
Food World and Spar shops were piloting the proximity payments at scale,
before a full telesales and proximity scale-up operation is launched across the
country with other retailers.
“Digital has changed everything in this global crisis. Work
and communication has moved to the digital sphere in an unprecedented fashion,”
Ms Javangwe said. Herald
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