adminTELECEL has taken a step further to drive financial inclusion in the country by becoming the first local mobile telecoms firm to launch a debit card.
The debit card – Telecash Gold Card – is linked to a subscriber’s Telecash Wallet and allows Telecash subscribers to make transactions on all ZimSwitch POS terminals and also enables withdrawals from every ZimSwitch ATM facility.
Telecel’s debit card is one example of the transformation of consumer banking in which mobile operators are building networks and technologies capable of rivalling traditional banks’ for control of the payment system.
Telecel mobile financial services (MFS) director Nkosinathi Ncube said the card offers a direct integration between mobile money and retailing services.
“Through mobile money we want to improve the transacting of the public and to uplift those who have never really had banking experience before, not just to give them a mobile wallet and stop there but to also improve their lifestyles and have more convenience,” said Ncube.
He added that the debit card will also extend the reach of Telecash to outlying areas without telecash agents.
“One of the issues why we are launching the Telecash gold card is that it broadens our distribution network where now you can be serviced by anyone who has got a point of sale terminal which is on ZimSwitch.”
The Telecash gold card integration is the second integration phase between Telecash and ZimSwitch.
When it was launched, Telecash integrated to ZimSwitch for the ZIPIT functionality where funds can be transferred instantly from any Telecash wallet to any ZIPIT certified bank account (Wallet-to-Bank) or from any ZIPIT certified bank account to any Telecash wallet (Bank-to-Wallet).
The new development means that banked individuals can now send funds instantly to any Telecash account from any of the existing delivery channels already available in Zimbabwe including POS, ATM, Mobile Banking and Internet.
Ncube said Telecash partnered primarily with CBZ to introduce the service, with other financial service firms being included through the ZimSwitch platform.
He indicated a long term objective to integrate the card with international payment options such as VISA and Mastercard
Meanwhile, Telecel says it is pushing the Telecash product into Diaspora markets and that process had reached an “advanced stage.”
“We do have plans for going into the Diaspora market. We have already started talking to a number of money transfer agents in the major corridors, that is, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Australia, Botswana, USA, and other areas and we anticipate to be opening up those corridors in the next few weeks,” said.
Telecel says it has so far registered 3,600 agents on its books. – BH24
Online Reporter