adminUNITED States digital commerce and payment solutions firm, Mozido has acquired a majority stake in Zimbabwean mobile financial services platform NettCash. In a statement on Mozido’s website announcing the deal, founder Michael Liberty said NettCash fits into the group’s strategy of being an inclusive and easily accessible digital financial services platform.
“Mozido’s global strategy is to identify opportunities where mobile financial services, that are designed to be inclusive and easily accessible, can solve important problems for the region — no matter the user’s banking status or physical location,” said Liberty.
According to the US-based firm, the NettCash pre-paid electricity solution is being extended by integrating Mozido’s Mobile Transaction
Platform services, including mobile bill pay, stored value account, and person-to-person payment services, launch Zimbabwe’s first mobile wallet that includes prepaid utility services.
“Mozido’s NettCash mobile prepaid utility service has the potential to reach tens of millions of citizens who previously were faced with the challenge of travelling many miles to the electricity company or authorised dealer to manually top up their electricity meters after the country moved to a prepaid electricity model. The Mozido NettCash service has reached more than 250,000 consumers in just four months since its launch in February 2015, and is poised to expand significantly in the region throughout the year,” said the company in a statement.
NettCash is currently one of the most comprehensive mobile money platform in Zimbabwe, offering a variety of services including bill and merchant payments, salary and pension disbursement, airtime top up, voucher distribution and ticketing, loyalty schemes and gift vouchers.
It also offers aid distribution and health applications, microfinance solutions, e-commerce and remittances.
Explained Liberty: “We saw an opportunity to fulfil an important need in Zimbabwe, and Mozido’s NettCash mobile prepaid utility service has made it possible for hundreds of thousands of families to simply top up their electricity meters whenever they need, instantly from their mobile phones,” he said.
It is, however, not clear the exact stake Mozido has acquired in NettCash, or whether the deal is compliant with Zimbabwe’s indigenisation laws.
Mozido said following the initial success of the company’s debut service in Zimbabwe, it is currently adding additional financial services to its NettCash mobile solutions.
And in the “coming months”, Mozido says it will expand mobile bill pay to other service and utility providers, and add inbound remittance transactions, and person-to-person payments. Mozido’s worldwide presence and global offerings include offices in the US, China, India, Africa, UAE, Germany, Mexico, Jamaica, and South Korea. — BH24
Online Reporter