eBusiness Weekly
Livingstone Marufu
Mobile payment agents have increased 25 percent to 50 000 from 40 000 units last year as Zimbabwe moves closer to achieving financial inclusion strategy targets meant to help ease cash shortages.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s target is for the country to have 90 000 mobile payment agents by 2020 to promote the use of plastic money.
The indications are this target could be achieved before end of next year as more people embrace plastic money.
Monetary authorities say 96 percent of the country’s transactions are already being conducted electronically.
RBZ governor, Dr John Mangudya, said there has been a huge improvement in terms of plastic money usage.
“While we were happy with the increase in Point of Sale (POS) machines to 70 000 to date from around 56 000 last year, mobile payment agents have also increased to 50 000 from just above 40 000 last year.
“Given the quick adaptation of mobile money users, we are on course to reach the 90 000 mobile payment agents by 2020,” he said.
Dr Mangudya said the 25 percent growth in the use of mobile transactions in the first quarter excites the authorities as far as the embracing of plastic money is concerned, adding more agents were coming before year end.
Long queues outside banks are being experienced particularly during month-ends and government is promoting the use of electronic payments in order to reduce pressure on the demand for physical cash. He said this momentum to increase the use of the devices and access points dovetails with the national financial inclusion policy thrust of increasing both POS machines and mobile payment agents.
Dr Mangudya highlighted that it is encouraging to note that in keeping with the thrust of promoting electronic payments, a number of payment service providers and banks have enhanced deployment of the devices and access points.
It is believed that domestic savings were critical to dealing with cash shortages as remittances from Zimbabweans outside the country, inward foreign investments and external loans would be used for revenue generating development projects.
Meanwhile, the Government has stepped up efforts to broaden its tax base to increase the amount of foreign currency collected at Zimbabwe’s border posts. In the first quarter of 2018, of the 371 million transactions carried out in 2018, 368 million of them were POS and mobile payments. But beyond increasing the availability of POS machines, Government also wants plastic and electronic transaction costs to come down markedly.
Customers still complain that it remains expensive to transact on plastic and electronic money platforms despite efforts by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to have charges reduced.
The RBZ has asked retailers to charge 10c for transactions of between $1 and $10. However, there is a feeling among consumers that the cost skyrockets when one makes multiple purchases of small items such as bread and milk per day. Mobile money transaction costs have recently been pushed up by unscrupulous dealers who sell cash at a premium of 20 percent or more.
EcoCash, which controls over 90 percent of mobile money transactions, has challenged customers to report unscrupulous dealers so that corrective action is taken. Even some reputable wholesalers and retailers are putting premiums of up to 30 percent when consumers are buying using electronic forms of payment, with products being considerably cheaper when using physical cash.
Despite several warnings from Government and RBZ to abandon the illegal multi-tier pricing, sellers remain defiant.
Government is also engaging informal traders to use POS machines and mobile payment agents in order to make transaction easier for the general public.
