BY MTHANDAZO NYONI
ZIMPOST is working on extending its money transfer service, Zipcash, onto the mobile platform in a bid to boost traffic and increase revenue, acting managing director Sifundo Moyo has said.
Zipcash is a low-cost money transfer service that allows customers to send or receive money locally and internationally through the postal network.
“Zipcash is a product which largely depends on the availability of cash and you are aware the country has been having liquidity challenges,” Moyo told NewsDay Business. “And because of that, Zipcash has also seen a slump and again in line with the technological advancements that are happening around, we are working on extending the Zipcash service onto the mobile platform so that people can transact using their mobile phones — to both send and receive money on that platform.”
Currently, the company is carrying out transactions using Zipcash with countries such as Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania. Zimpost is also an agent for other international money transfer partners such as Mukuru, World Remit, Money Gram, Hello Paisa and Western Union. Meanwhile, Moyo said their e-commerce service was still performing below standard due to the current liquidity challenges.
“So far, the uptake is still low because we had issues to do with currency challenges, where items were priced in United States dollars and people wanted to pay in Real Time Gross Settlement dollars, but now that the monetary policy statement has come out to clearly differentiate the rates between the two currencies, it’s now easier for the sellers as well as the buyers,” he said.
The platform allows buyers and sellers to interact and do business online.
“We are currently recruiting e-sellers and what we want to do is to make sure that people find the convenience of looking for whatever they want from that webpage and if they get it, they place an order and make a payment. Everything being done at the same go and then as Zimpost we deliver.”
On the financial services side, Moyo said Zimpost had a major role to play in financial inclusion. This will be done in terms of the central bank’s financial inclusion strategy, set to run from 2016 to 2020.
Moyo added that Zimpost had been an agent for one insurance company and in 2018, they introduced their own house brands under the post insurance brand.
The brands are underwritten by NicozDiamond.
“Now we are happy that the Insurance and Pensions Commission has given us a multiple insurance agency licence. This licence means we can now transact on behalf of all the insurance companies in the country,” Moyo said. “What that means is that Zimbabweans at large are going to enjoy a lot of convenience. They can walk into any post office hall and demand that they be given any insurance product from an insurance company of their choice. This has not happened before and as we say, at Zimpost, we are delivering possibilities. We want to make sure that our institution remains relevant in the communities where we work.”
