eBusiness Weekly
Jeffrey Gogo
Kuvacash, the New Zealand – based financial technology startup, this week released the alpha version of its Kuvacash wallet app, allowing users in Zimbabwe to store, receive and send money to each other via the cellphone. International remittances will also be supported.
The platform runs on the Dash block-chain, meaning that payments are generally made in a cryptocurrency of the same name, which can then be converted to fiat currency on withdrawal. Users may not necessarily have to use cryptocurrency to facilitate payments or remittances, just notes and coins. The Kuvacash back-end will do the rest.
Information made available to the Business Weekly shows that Kuvacash is preparing for a launch of the beta version in November. The IOS version will be released in 2019. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has understandably approved the proposal and given Kuvacash a money transfer services licence.
With the alpha release, Kuvacash expects users to try out the app and its features – probably with a demo token. Consumer feedback will likely then be incorporated into the beta version, which will use real dash.
According to a statement issued by Kuvacash, which was made available to the Business Weekly, the company expects that payments be will made through the app, when it eventually builds a cable car service in Harare.
“Our focus is using technology and innovation to sustainably and rapidly accelerate quality of life in Africa, and Zimbabwe in particular,” said the company, is looking to move about 100,000 people each day through the Kuva City cable car plan.
The plan, already approved by the Harare Municipality, will transport people from the show-grounds through to Fourth Street.
“Kuvacash is the payment method for Kuva City Air,” said Kuvacash.
“It uses advanced technology to ensure secure storage of value, protection against inflation, currency volatility and enables payment of ticket tax at a low cost.”
“Discussions are ongoing with government at several levels and we are grateful for the engagement thus far. We will be updating on progress in due course,” he added.
Kuvacash has shared referral links – mostly through Whatsapp – to its wallet app on Google Play Store. On the store, the app says it will help users to “store your balance safely in your Kuvacash wallet. No individual third party can interfere or manipulate your balance, which is stored on an immutable ledger known as the block-chain, powered by an internationally tradeable digital currency called Dash.”
Kuvacash said the app allows people to “receive money from abroad with ultra-low fees” of as low as one percent.
“Current international remittance solutions are slow and expensive,” the company says, promising cash-outs in real US dollars through its network of agents.
The decision by Kuvacash to integrate dash comes amid a worsening currency crisis on the local market. Cryptocurrencies are often seen as the bridge to failing centralised fiat systems. And with its history of hyperinflation, bank failure and currency problems, Zimbabwe is often looked at within the crypto ecosystem as a fantastic use case: its currency so hyper-inflated it is now officially canned and out of circulation.
The Zimbabwean dollar has become a cautionary symbol, often employed by cryptocurrency zealots as a way to show the folly of faith in politicians controlling an economy. If there’s an upside to such a phenomenon, Zimbabweans have become practical monetary experts out of necessity.
Half of all transactions involve paper money, and for the domestic population they’ve become accustomed to exchanging US dollars, South African rand etc., a gap that cryptocurrencies could fill. Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has recently spoken about wholesale currency reforms, including the abolition of the bond notes. It is a thrill we wait to see whether crypto will find space in the reforms, particularly as far as payments and regulation are concerned.
