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HARARE — Econet says it is finalising plans to create a channel to allow remittances from Zimbabweans living and working in South Africa through its EcoCash podium. EcoCash is a mobile payment facility that enables Econet customers to complete simple financial transactions such as sending money, shopping and paying utility bills.
Zimbabweans living in South Africa who use Econet Wireless South Africa’s Call Home sim cards will be able to load money in their cell phones just like their counterparts in Zimbabwe and send it across the border instantly to an Econet number.
Recipients in the country will cash the money at any EcoCash agent.
Econet services chief executive Mr Darlington Mandivenga said EcoCash remittances would be the biggest source of foreign currency in the economy by the end of the year.
“Our research suggests that by making it quicker and easier to send small amounts, of as little as R5, and at any time, we will see a massive inflow of money, just like we see on EcoCash here at home,” he said.
He said the volume of remittances coming into Zimbabwe could easily be trebled when the process of sending money was put on the EcoCash platform.
Mandivenga said Econet was targeting remittances from South Africa, Botswana and Zambia before the end of the year, after which it would expand to other countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States.
Statistics show that Zimbabwe accounts for the bulk of the cross-border remittances market with more than R6,7 billion (60 percent of total Sadc remittances) estimated to be sent to Zimbabwe from South Africa each year. — New Ziana.
Bongani Ndlovu