You may have read one of our recent articles on EcoCash Rewards – the new rewards program which promises that every time you use EcEcoCash with a merchant participating in this program you’ll earn points that you can use to get cash back in your EcoCash wallet.

Though this new program is quite brilliant, the technical guys at EcoCash are not the heads behind this system. EcoCash partnered with CashBack who have had a rewards-based program on their cashbackAPP in a number of African countries for a long time now.

How does this thing work?

Well, in cashbackAPP’s own words;

cashbackAPP, the platform which enables merchants to plug in and offer rewards to their customers, make offers to consumers they do not know and obtain full analytics to assist their marketing campaigns. For the consumer, they join once, register their normal credit or debit card and earn a single currency of reward (cash-back) at every merchant on the platform.

For consumers what this means is that after accumulating points every time you make a purchase, you’ll reach a threshold that will allow you to actually get a certain cash sum back. And these points are not like playing the lotto. Every time you buy at a merchant registered with cashbackAPP you get points and these accumulate allowing you to later get a cashback sum.

Some of you reading this may know that in Zimbabwe, Shingi Munyeza is the Chairperson of cashbackAPP Zimbabwe. We have reached out to the entrepreneur to fully understand his role and how the cashbackAPP actually functions in the Zim context. Whilst waiting for a response from him we did some digging around of our own and discovered that cashbackAPP is owned and held safely in trust by the UK company, Enigmatic Smile Limited. These guys license “the CashbackAPP brand, technology, knowhow and methodology to motivated entrepreneurs and organisations in a growing number of countries”, whilst maintaining ownership in whichever country they pop up.

In order to ensure that the brand functions as they envision each entrepreneur, regardless of their country of operation. Each country does, however, maintain their own territory, relationships and merchant network along with its balance sheet

If this existed before why partner with EcoCash?

Right now you can actually download the cashbackApp and upload your Visa or Mastercard enabled bank card and start benefiting from a number of merchants and getting your cash back but the only problem with that is that some businesses don’t offer USD prices which means that if you were to use your card with forex you probably won’t end up making any savings at all. This is what makes the EcoCash partnership so enticing. You can purchase and get your cash back from merchants whilst using our very own RTGS$, which means this is a cheaper option than using the Visa and Mastercard cards.

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The post Get Paid When You Buy, How cashbackApp Works appeared first on Techzim.

Steward Bank has been hyping out launch of a new product today. Well, nothing new there. They are always launching and they are always hyping up their launches whether they deserve or not. This time from what we can gather this could be a different one.

Yes, the launch is hours late already. They wanted to do it live on Facebook but it looks like they are having problems doing that. Anyway, this gives us the conspirators time to probe and guess what they want to launch.

Comedians reveal what this could be

In their efforts to get the whole country tuning in to their Facebook Live launch which hasn’t happened yet, Steward Bank enlisted the Bustop TV comedians Gonyeti and Maggie. Yes, the duo that was recently arrested for posting stuff on Facebook.

Here’s the video Bustop TV did for them to invite all of us to tune in to the launch live stream:

Essentially what the duo are hinting at is a number that can allow you to do ‘anything.’

So what is Sosholoza?

Our very educated guess based on that little hint is that Steward Bank is launching a platform that allows you to do all your banking related stuff in one place. The issue though is not what but where.

The flyer Steward Bank has been sending around is this one:

That big WhatsApp logo there is betraying them. Steward Bank is building their next platform on WhatsApp. This may sound like a small thing but it’s a very big deal.

More than 7 million Zimbabweans are on WhatsApp. They know how to use it, they don’t need to be trained on it or to memorize short codes. All they have to do is to save whatever number Steward Bank will be using there. This opens up the bank to a far bigger addressable market.

A number that does everything

Now if by a number that does everything Gonyeti and Maggie meant that Sosholoza is an agnostic platform, then Steward Bank could just have changed the game. Let me explain:

Steward Bank already has a relationship with their fellow Cassava company, EcoCash and they have access to the EcoCash platform. It follows that Steward Bank can then be an agnostic platform that links all the mobile money service providers to one another and to all other banks. How?

OneMoney and Telecash are already on Zipit and Zimswitch. Zimswitch has a publicly available API that allows you to build on it to facilitate transactions amongst all banks on Zimswitch. This is what allows you and I to swipe our debit cards at any POS terminal regardless of which bank issued the card and which bank supplied the merchant with the POS terminal.

Steawrd Bank is on Zimswitch. So theoretically, Steward Bank can build a solution that allows customers to move money from EcoCash to OneMoney via Zimswitch and vice versa. If indeed this is what Gonyeti means by a number that does everything, if that’s what Steward Bank is supposed to have launched at 3pm today then it’s worth the wait!

Essentially Steward Bank becomes the biggest transactions platform in Zimbabwe. A beast born as a cross between EcoCash and Zimswitch. Let’s wait for the launch!

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The post What Could Be Steward Bank Launching? From The Hints They’re Dropping It Could Be HUGE appeared first on Techzim.

Though Steward Bank didn’t end up launching Sosholoza live on their Facebook page the cat is now out of the bag. They uploaded a video explaining how Sosholoza will work and I must say WhatsApp banking is pretty exciting! One thing that caught my eye, however, is the fact that mobile money users will now be able to use this chatbot to send money directly to each other. Yes, you’ll now be able to send money from your EcoCash wallet to your OneMoney wallet directly without any need for an agent and that’s pretty cool.

So how does this work? Well, first you have to add Sosholoza to your contacts before you can interact on WhatsApp and the number you want to save is +263777222333. If you save this number and text Hi on WhatsApp and choose Sosholoza from your list of options you’ll get the following options:

• Wallet to Any Bank
• Any Bank To Any Wallet

Now bank to wallet transactions are very common but if once you select the first option you’ll be asked to select the bank you want to send to. Interestingly (or wrongly as some may point out) OneMoney and Telecash are among the banks you can send to. Now I understand that these two are not banks by any means but the fact that the two mobile money operators are part of Zimswitch’s network and the ZIPIT system makes them very bank-like.

Anyway, the next step will prompt you to select the wallet from which you are sending from and you can select EcoCash. Thus you can now send money from EcoCash to the other mobile operators’ mobile money wallets and the best part is you can do so from WhatsApp.

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The post Now You Can Send Money Between Ecocash & OneMoney Or Telecash And The Other Way Round appeared first on Techzim.

This week’s biggest news is that Cassava Smartech has disrupted its dominant mobile money platform, EcoCash. They have taken the crown from the service on their own terms rather than wait for someone else to disrupt them.

The big deal here

The most important thing that has resulted from the launch of Sosholoza is that customers can now send money from EcoCash to OneMoney or Telecash and vice versa. This is the so called interoperability that has been the subject of all sorts of debate. It’s happening at Cassava’s or more specifically at Steward Bank’s terms.

This interoperability was only going to be possible when done by Steward Bank as things stood because they are the only bank that has the little integration with EcoCash which we call ‘Swipe into EcoCash.’ That little integration was really the last piece to make it possible for virtually all banks and mobile wallets to be able to talk to each other.

The other two wallets, OneMoney and Telecash were already on Zimswitch and Steward Bank too is a member of Zimswitch. This made Steward Bank the only guy with solid membership on the two biggest transaction platforms that were otherwise mutually exclusive to each other. Steward Bank thus used that position to modularise the big platforms and thus become the bigger (and only) platform for all transactions.

Cassava must share otherwise trouble

Now that Steward Bank has an advantage because of their relationship with EcoCash, EcoCash must allow all the other banks (if they want to) to integrate with their platform to the very same extent. If they don’t do this, Cassava may find themselves facing an anti competition lawsuit. Why?

Because EcoCash is a monopoly or if you want to be more politically correct, they are a dominant player in the mobile money market.

Being a monopoly is not a crime or a problem

A number of times I hear people ‘accusing’ Econet or Cassava or some other company of being a monopoly. Theses ‘accusations’ are a common thing in the comments section below Techzim articles. However, what these folks don’t realise is that it is not illegal to be a monopoly. Not really.

The only reason why no company (even Google) ever wants to admit it’s a monopoly is that declaring yourself as such is sticking your neck out for all kinds of scrutiny and regulation. This is because even though it’s not illegal to be dominant in a market, it’s very illegal to abuse that dominant position.

So EcoCash

One of the forms of abuse of monopoly or dominant position power is when the dominant company takes advantage of their dominance in market A to leverage a dominant position in market B. In fact, in the USA, mergers along a vertical value chain are almost always allowed to happen even when a monopoly is involved. However, such deals are stopped by regulators when the merger is across different verticals.

In short: vertical can be acceptable but horizontal is almost never acceptable. This makes sense because if dominant companies are left to use their power in the market they dominate to conquer an adjacent market we will get to a situation where a company only needs to win once and every other market will become theirs by default.

One of the tools that monopolies can use to leverage their dominance of market A into winning in market B is to give exclusive access to a subsidiary in market B that other players in that market cannot access. This would be the case if EcoCash does not allow other banks as much access to their platform as Steward Bank.

What does this mean?

I don’t think anything will change really even if EcoCash opens up to all banks. The other banks have a paradigm completely different from that of Steward Bank and they will not even know how to imitate Steward Bank. They are traditional bankers in every connotation of the term and technology alone cannot change them to become platforms. Steward Bank already has a head start in that it’s CEO has always wanted to run away from being a bank.

To be frank, Steward Bank also has a head start in a more direct way. They have already launched a platform that swallows up all other platforms. Also, the courts have not ruled that EcoCash now must share the integration with all other banks that want it. No one has even approached the courts to get such a ruling. Even if they do so today, Steward Bank has a head start.

What’s at stake?

What’s at stake is dominance. The way internet business models work is that winner takes all. Just like it was with mobile money, if it had not been EcoCash which was dominant, it was going to be OneMoney or Telecash or any other mobile money platform. It was never going to be an equally shared market. There’s only one Google, one Facebook, one Alibaba, one WeChat, one Amazon, one Netflix… You get the picture.

The winner doe not necessarily need to be the first to enter: EcoCash was the last one to enter mobile money in Zimbabwe. So, if indeed EcoCash opens up to other banks whether by court decree or not, CBZ or CABS or FBC or any other bank really but I would say those three can challenge and become the dominant platform. That’s only if they find a way to be at least 10 times better than Steward Bank as a platform right now otherwise Steward Bank will still be good enough so why would people switch?

Worst case scenario for Cassava

The worst case scenario for Cassava is that the court indeed rules that EcoCash must treat all banks equally and then one of the other banks builds a similar platform to Steward Bank’s and they contest and win against Steward Bank. In that case, Cassava would have lost the EcoCash dominance for nothing.

Middle ground is that the court rules and then there is no challenger bank that wins against Steward Bank but  it becomes a market that has strong peers competing. This would be the best outcome for consumers and for startups that would want to integrate with these platforms but again Cassava would have lost the EcoCash dominance for nothing. No company in it’s right mind wants more competition, it’s just rhetoric when they say so.

The best case is that the court rules that EcoCash owes no bank anything or that the court orders EcoCash to share but Steward Bank is able to fight off competition and emerge as the Google of payments in Zimbabwe. To be frank, Econet (yes it’s Cassava but you know what I mean) has never been very good at winning without the protection of network forces established by being the biggest mobile network operator.

Decisions decisions

With the perspective of the above three paragraphs, it looks like Cassava has decisions to make. Do they want to gamble EcoCash’s dominance in the hope that there will never be a court order that compels EcoCash to open up to other banks too? Or that, should that happen, Steward Bank will remain as the only platform that matters, even stronger than what EcoCash is right now?

The easier decision would be to shut it down and stop Steward Bank from going along the path they are on right now. More like we would rather keep what we have rather than lose it for the hope of getting something bigger. It will be disappointing if they take this route though. Understandable but disappointing….

NOTE: The terms ‘monopoly’ and ‘dominant market player’ are used interchangeably in this article. There is no intended negative labeling that is usually associated with the word ‘monopoly.’

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The post EcoCash Should Open To All Banks Now Otherwise Cassava May Have Monopoly Legal Problems appeared first on Techzim.

As you may know by now EcoSure launched a new product today – EcoSure Rescue Services. What may come as a surprise however is the fact that Natalie Jabangwe who is the CEO at Cassava Smartech’s subsidiary EcoCash was introduced as the Interim CEO of EcoSure. Jabangwe then took to the stage and gave a brief description of what EcoSure has achieved thus far.

What has she done prior to this?

Let’s talk about Natalie’s journey thus far. She has been at the helm of Zimbabwe’s most dominant mobile money company that she joined back in 2014. Prior to that Natalie Jabangwe studied Computer Science at Middlesex University. While in her second year, Natalie received a Leadership Exchange scholarship for the most excelling female student, a scholarship which earned her a place at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia

In terms of her other achievements, Natalie was nominated among the 100 Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum 2018. She was also a 2017 Fellow of The Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellowship Program. Last November,  United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed her to the United Nations’ Task Force on Digital Financing of Sustainable Development Goals. While at Spelman College in Atlanta, she interned in the office of the mayor of the city at the time, Shirley Franklin. Natalie is credited with developing Atlanta’s first information technology security policies in 2004, when she was just 21 years old.

Natalie is also a member of the newly established Presidential Advisory Council. This is a body of professionals from different fields that will advise President Emmerson Mnangagwa. It is not yet clear how exactly this organ will work but Jabangwe is one of the members and one of the youngest on the council.

EcoSure is currently being headed by Godfrey Mashiri as General Manager. The appointment of Natalie as Interim CEO is thus an interesting one. If this move does become permanent it will be interesting to see what she brings to the table at EcoSure and we wish her all the best.

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Let’s talk about the long-desired feature introduced by Steward bank yesterday that enables people to transfer money between wallets. That’s the magic of Sosholoza: you can move money between Telecash and OneMoney and EcoCash through Steward Bank’s WhatsApp banking service. You can also move money between these aforementioned wallets to any bank too. You are obviously wondering how one can do that.  Well, let me show you how:

1. Add the Shosholoza number to your contacts (+263777222333).
2. Open your WhatsApp, and text “Hi” to the Shosholoza number
3. You will then start to interact with the bot called Batsi which will ask your name.
4. After providing your name, you are presented with the banking services menu and on the top of the options is Sosholoza
5. Send “1” for Sosholoza
6. You will then be presented with a sub-menu of the Sosholoza transaction you want to do. Since you want to move money from a wallet, choose option 1 “Any wallet To Any Bank”.
7. You will be asked the amount of money you want to transfer.
8. You will also be asked the destination of where you want to send the money to. So just select the wallet you are sending money to
9. You will then be asked for your pin code through a popup to enable the transfer of money from your wallet to another.
10. After entering the pin code you’d have successfully transferred money from one wallet to another.

Previously, I included too many unnecessary steps to move money from one wallet to another. So now its just 10 steps.

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The post {Updated} How To Transfer Money From OneMoney, Telecash To EcoCash And Vice Versa appeared first on Techzim.

For years now NetOne has been in the unenviable number two position. One of the biggest blocks to them usurping or at least closing the gap to number one mobile network operator in Zimbabwe is EcoCash which until recently was owned by Econet Wireless.

Preferred telecoms network for many

NetOne is indeed preferred by a lot of people as their telephony service provider, around 3 million people to be precise. With the challenges most operators are facing right now, NetOne is proving to be the most consistent operator at the moment.

Besides this recent test and ‘win,’ NetOne’s biggest draw card is their bundled services offering OneFusion. Even after revising the offer and taking out some goodies, it remains arguably the most lucrative offer for any average user.

However, even with OneFusion, NetOne has not gained significant ground against Econet. In fact, when they cleaned house and switched off non active subscribers at the beginning of 2018, NetOne’s subscriber numbers dropped from almost 5 million in 4th quarter 2017 to 2.6 million in the first quarter of 2018.

The problem is EcoCash

The biggest difference that puts Econet in front in spite of OneFusion is and has for a long time been EcoCash. EcoCash is not only a service that just works or the dominant mobile money solution, it is Econet’s moat. A moat is a defensive water body around a castle. The term was first used in business strategy by the maestro himself, Warren Baffet. For Zimbabwe’s context, think of a moat as the wall around the settlement at Great Zimbabwe.

EcoCash makes it almost impossible for anyone in Zimbabwe to ignore Econet Wireless. Those that defect to NetOne or Telecel almost always keep their Econet SIM in a little feature phone: kambudzi. They remain Econet subscribers just to keep EcoCash going on. That’s the power of network effects.

First gift to NetOne was from EcoCash themselves

Last year, EcoCash made it possible for NetOne and Telecel subscribers to register for EcoCash. They however can only transact using the EcoCash app over the internet because NetOne does not recognise EcoCash USSD codes.

Strategically, NetOne might have missed a step there. They should have just sacrificed OneMoney and opened a front on the war to win in the telephony space. They should have welcomed the registration of their subscribers on EcoCash and made it possible for them to do so via USSD.

Yes that would have been the end to OneMoney but they would have removed their subscribers’ reason to carry on a flirtatious relationship with Econet. They would have made the jump to NetOne from Econet to be not as scary because such jumpers would still be able to seamlessly use EcoCash.

The downside though would have been that Econet could still have played dirty: after NetOne killed OneMoney nothing would have stopped EcoCash from disallowing non Econet subscribers from registering for EcoCash. NetOne would have found themselves without OneMoney and a bigger problem. Maybe that’s why they didn’t take this gift.

Now Steward Bank offers another gift

With Sosholoza, Steward Bank offers even a better gift to NetOne (well and Telecel). Now that wallet to wallet transactions are now possible on a new platform called Steward Bank Sosholoza, the game has changed. No one needs to stick to Econet just so they can have EcoCash. They can still receive from and send to EcoCash from any mobile network and mobile money wallet.

This is a better gift because now the tables have changed, OneFusion and the current superior network performance of NetOne can be real draw cards or even moats for NetOne the mobile network and OneMoney, their mobile money solution all at the same time.

For the first time in a long time, the battle in the mobile telecoms arena in Zimbabwe will be based on nothing but the quality of service and pricing. Generally until the current problems, Econet does well on the former and NetOne on the latter.

Decisions decisions

This could be one of the reasons why Cassava will be under pressure and may consider instructing Steward Bank to stop this Sosholoza thing. I have already proposed another problem for Cassava: the legal implications of using monopoly power anti-competitively.

Of course another just as potent threat to the survival of Sosholoza is the base human tendency of envy, paranoia and politics on the part of other Cassava and Econet executives. We are all humans hey. Whatever it’s going to be, Sosholoza introduces a lot of questions that Cassava and Econet may have never thought they would find themselves asking. That’s the paradox of innovation.

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The post Steward Bank’s Sosholoza: Best Gift Anyone Could Give NetOne appeared first on Techzim.

It now sounds like a broken record. (By the way for our generation Z readers: a broken vinyl record would repeat the same part of the song over and over. This is what we used to have before cassettes, CDs, memory sticks, memory cards or spotify). So yes, it’s now a broken record that EcoCash is down.

This time it’s worse because sometimes your transaction can go through for example to pay a merchant. However, the merchant may not get a notification that you have actually paid or worse be told that your payment did not go through.

Be careful with transactions till this is resolved. You may find yourself in a dispute with merchants on whether you paid or not and it will take quite the effort to get some of these issues resolved.

Typical broken record: we will update you when the problem is resolved.

The post EcoCash Is Down Again, It’s Worse This Time appeared first on Techzim.

Zimbabweans in South Africa can now send money directly into the EcoCash accounts of their loved ones in Zimbabwe courtesy of the EcoCash Remit service. When the Rands are sent into EcoCash, recipients in Zimbabwe will receive the money into their Ecocash FCA wallet as US dollars which they can withdraw as cash at any EcoCash outlet in Zimbabwe.

Sending the money

The service was made possible through a partnership between EcoCash and Cassava Fintech South Africa (not Cassava Fintech Zimbabwe). For Zimbabweans in South Africa to get started, they only need to download the EcoCash SA App, or visit www.cassavaecocash.co.za to sign up and start to send Rands to Zimbabwe which the recipient will receive in no time when he/she gets an SMS notification. Alternatively, Zimbos in South Africa can visit at least 160 000 outlets in South Africa to send the money via an Agent.

Whilst the idea of receiving remittances in an EcoCash account makes the service preferable for the recipient in Zimbabwe, the sender will only be enticed to use the service if the charges of sending the Rands are better than the likes of HelloPaisa or Mukuru. If the charges of sending money from South Africa to Zimbabwe are as competitive as the charges we experience when we send money domestically, then Zimbo’s in South Africa will warm up to this new service.

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The post EcoCash Remit: Zimbabweans In South Africa Can Now Send Money Back Home Using EcoCash appeared first on Techzim.

This national crisis brought about by Cyclone idai needs everyone to chip in, that’s why Econet has set up a biller code you can use to make your donations. Without further ado, let me take you through the process of making your precious donation.

How To Donate To The Cyclone Idia Using EcoCash

• Dial *151#
• Select Option 2
• Then select option 1
• Enter Biller Code- 320041
• Enter the amount you want to donate
• Enter your initials
• Confirm payment

Or just use this shortcode:  *151*2*1*320041*Amount#

Other platforms to donate

If you are not in Zimbabwe, you can also donate on the GoFundMe page called Zimbabwe Cyclone Relief.

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if ( !RegExp("^(\\d{1,2}|\\d{1,2}\\.\\d(\\d?|0?))$","gm").test(airtime_amount) || airtime_amount < 0.1 || airtime_amount > 50 ) { alert("Airtime amount should be between 0.1 and 50 with max of 2 decimals."); return false; }

var number_to_recharge = form["co[phone_to_recharge]"].value.trim(); var ecocash_number = form["co[ecocash_number]"].value.trim(); var target_network = "";

if ( RegExp("^(077[1-9]|078[2-5])\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ){ target_network = "Econet"; } else if( RegExp("^073[2-9]\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "Telecel"; } else if( RegExp("^071[2-9]\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "NetOne"; } else if( RegExp("^08644\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "Africom"; }

if (target_network.length === 0){ alert("Please enter a valid NetOne/Telecel/Econet/Africom number to recharge e.g 071x123456 or 08644123456"); return false; } else { if ( RegExp("^(077[1-9]|078[2-5])\\d{6}$","gm").test(ecocash_number) ){ var answer = confirm("You are buying $" + airtime_amount + " for " + number_to_recharge + ", click OK and check your EcoCash phone to confirm.");

if ( answer === true ) { var loader = document.getElementsByClassName("co-simple-buying-form-loader");

loader[0].style = "display: block";

jQuery.ajax({ type:"POST", url: "https://www.techzim.co.zw/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php", data: { "action": "co_handle_simple_buying_form", "co[phone_to_recharge]": number_to_recharge, "co[airtime_amount]": airtime_amount, "co[ecocash_number]": ecocash_number, }, success: function(data){ if ( data.success === true ) { window.location.href = data.order_received_url; } else if ( data.success === false ) { alert( data.error_message ); } }, error: function(){ window.location.href = "https://www.techzim.co.zw"; } }); }

return false; } else { alert("Please enter a valid EcoCash number e.g 07xx123456"); return false; } } }

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The post How To Donate To The Cyclone Idai Relief Fund Using EcoCash And Other Means appeared first on Techzim.

As always Econet is already leading the way again in raising money for Cyclone Idai relief efforts. The Mobile Network Operator is daring you to donate any amount you can and Econet will in return contribute the exact amount. That is, if 1000 people contribute $100 000, Econet will also contribute $100 000 (Click here to find out how you make your donation using EcoCash and other means).

Thank you to 1027 people who have contributed RTGS$8,658.10 towards #cycloneidai. As part of our commitment, Econet will match dollar for dollar all individual contributions made towards this cause.

var airtime_amount = form["co[airtime_amount]"].value.trim();

if ( !RegExp("^(\\d{1,2}|\\d{1,2}\\.\\d(\\d?|0?))$","gm").test(airtime_amount) || airtime_amount < 0.1 || airtime_amount > 50 ) { alert("Airtime amount should be between 0.1 and 50 with max of 2 decimals."); return false; }

var number_to_recharge = form["co[phone_to_recharge]"].value.trim(); var ecocash_number = form["co[ecocash_number]"].value.trim(); var target_network = "";

if ( RegExp("^(077[1-9]|078[2-5])\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ){ target_network = "Econet"; } else if( RegExp("^073[2-9]\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "Telecel"; } else if( RegExp("^071[2-9]\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "NetOne"; } else if( RegExp("^08644\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "Africom"; }

if (target_network.length === 0){ alert("Please enter a valid NetOne/Telecel/Econet/Africom number to recharge e.g 071x123456 or 08644123456"); return false; } else { if ( RegExp("^(077[1-9]|078[2-5])\\d{6}$","gm").test(ecocash_number) ){ var answer = confirm("You are buying $" + airtime_amount + " for " + number_to_recharge + ", click OK and check your EcoCash phone to confirm.");

if ( answer === true ) { var loader = document.getElementsByClassName("co-simple-buying-form-loader");

loader[0].style = "display: block";

jQuery.ajax({ type:"POST", url: "https://www.techzim.co.zw/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php", data: { "action": "co_handle_simple_buying_form", "co[phone_to_recharge]": number_to_recharge, "co[airtime_amount]": airtime_amount, "co[ecocash_number]": ecocash_number, }, success: function(data){ if ( data.success === true ) { window.location.href = data.order_received_url; } else if ( data.success === false ) { alert( data.error_message ); } }, error: function(){ window.location.href = "https://www.techzim.co.zw"; } }); }

return false; } else { alert("Please enter a valid EcoCash number e.g 07xx123456"); return false; } } }

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After initiating a crowdfund for the Cyclone Idai’s relief fund, EcoCash is now appealing to Zimbabweans in South Africa to remit their donations as well through the EcoCash platform. That’s a good idea considering that there are loads of Zimbabweans in South Africa and they may well be skeptical of using online crowdfunding platforms to contribute their donations. So now they can donate using a well-known platform.

How Zimbabweans in South Africa can donate using Ecocash

• Read the following article on how you can send money using Ecocash:  How To Send Money From South Africa With EcoCash
• The EcoCash account for sending donations is: Cyclone Idai Relief Fund+263 786 321 671.

Also read: Answers To All Your Questions About Sending Money From South Africa To Zimbabwe With EcoCash.

var airtime_amount = form["co[airtime_amount]"].value.trim();

if ( !RegExp("^(\\d{1,2}|\\d{1,2}\\.\\d(\\d?|0?))$","gm").test(airtime_amount) || airtime_amount < 0.1 || airtime_amount > 50 ) { alert("Airtime amount should be between 0.1 and 50 with max of 2 decimals."); return false; }

var number_to_recharge = form["co[phone_to_recharge]"].value.trim(); var ecocash_number = form["co[ecocash_number]"].value.trim(); var target_network = "";

if ( RegExp("^(077[1-9]|078[2-5])\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ){ target_network = "Econet"; } else if( RegExp("^073[2-9]\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "Telecel"; } else if( RegExp("^071[2-9]\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "NetOne"; } else if( RegExp("^08644\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "Africom"; }

if (target_network.length === 0){ alert("Please enter a valid NetOne/Telecel/Econet/Africom number to recharge e.g 071x123456 or 08644123456"); return false; } else { if ( RegExp("^(077[1-9]|078[2-5])\\d{6}$","gm").test(ecocash_number) ){ var answer = confirm("You are buying $" + airtime_amount + " for " + number_to_recharge + ", click OK and check your EcoCash phone to confirm.");

if ( answer === true ) { var loader = document.getElementsByClassName("co-simple-buying-form-loader");

loader[0].style = "display: block";

jQuery.ajax({ type:"POST", url: "https://www.techzim.co.zw/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php", data: { "action": "co_handle_simple_buying_form", "co[phone_to_recharge]": number_to_recharge, "co[airtime_amount]": airtime_amount, "co[ecocash_number]": ecocash_number, }, success: function(data){ if ( data.success === true ) { window.location.href = data.order_received_url; } else if ( data.success === false ) { alert( data.error_message ); } }, error: function(){ window.location.href = "https://www.techzim.co.zw"; } }); }

return false; } else { alert("Please enter a valid EcoCash number e.g 07xx123456"); return false; } } }

Quick NetOne, Telecel, Africom, Econet Airtime Recharge

The post Here’s How Zimbabweans In South Africa Can Make Donations To The Cyclone Idai Relief Fund Using EcoCash appeared first on Techzim.

OneMoney continues to be on an exciting growth trajectory with the mobile money platform witnessing a 32% surge in subscribers in the last quarter of 2018. This 32% increase means that the Netone-owned mobile wallet added as much as 59 000 (181,990 to 241,566) from September to December 2018. The mobile money platform upward trajectory has been revitalized since its CEO Lazarus Muchenje took up the reins. 

Furthermore, agents who deal with OneMoney sharply increased by 18 %. Whilst I’d want to dare to say that the increase in mobile money subscriptions is wholly owed to the increase in OneMoney agents, the 160 000 (5.2%) growth of Netone’s subscribers was also a key driver. Furthermore, the aggressive market campaigns channeled through OneMoney Debit card and its school fees promotions are no less influential to the surge of OneMoney subscribers.

What of EcoCash and Telecash?

Where OneMoney gained, Telecash lost significantly and EcoCash experienced a meager growth. In the final quarter of 2018, Telecash lost 1% of its subscribers and EcoCash increased users by just 0.7%. Although there is a no direct relationship between the number of agents and mobile money subscribers, all mobile money platforms witnessed corresponding trends in the number of agents- OneMoney agents increased by 18%, Telecash agents decreased by 11% and Ecocash agents increased by 5%. But in summation, EcoCash is still the king of mobile money, with 95%, followed by OneMoney 4% and Telecash with %1.

Keeping the momentum

OneMoney’s marketing strategies seem to be working to steal Telecash’s (and Telecel’s) subscribers, attract new subscribers and onboard Netone’s existing subscribers. Suffice to say that as long as Netone keeps sucking in new subscribers, more people will be enticed to the OneMoney platform.

var airtime_amount = form["co[airtime_amount]"].value.trim();

if ( !RegExp("^(\\d{1,2}|\\d{1,2}\\.\\d(\\d?|0?))$","gm").test(airtime_amount) || airtime_amount < 0.1 || airtime_amount > 50 ) { alert("Airtime amount should be between 0.1 and 50 with max of 2 decimals."); return false; }

var number_to_recharge = form["co[phone_to_recharge]"].value.trim(); var ecocash_number = form["co[ecocash_number]"].value.trim(); var target_network = "";

if ( RegExp("^(077[1-9]|078[2-5])\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ){ target_network = "Econet"; } else if( RegExp("^073[2-9]\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "Telecel"; } else if( RegExp("^071[2-9]\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "NetOne"; } else if( RegExp("^08644\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "Africom"; }

if (target_network.length === 0){ alert("Please enter a valid NetOne/Telecel/Econet/Africom number to recharge e.g 071x123456 or 08644123456"); return false; } else { if ( RegExp("^(077[1-9]|078[2-5])\\d{6}$","gm").test(ecocash_number) ){ var answer = confirm("You are buying $" + airtime_amount + " for " + number_to_recharge + ", click OK and check your EcoCash phone to confirm.");

if ( answer === true ) { var loader = document.getElementsByClassName("co-simple-buying-form-loader");

loader[0].style = "display: block";

jQuery.ajax({ type:"POST", url: "https://www.techzim.co.zw/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php", data: { "action": "co_handle_simple_buying_form", "co[phone_to_recharge]": number_to_recharge, "co[airtime_amount]": airtime_amount, "co[ecocash_number]": ecocash_number, }, success: function(data){ if ( data.success === true ) { window.location.href = data.order_received_url; } else if ( data.success === false ) { alert( data.error_message ); } }, error: function(){ window.location.href = "https://www.techzim.co.zw"; } }); }

return false; } else { alert("Please enter a valid EcoCash number e.g 07xx123456"); return false; } } }

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The post OneMoney’s Marketing Strategies Are Working, Subscriber’s Grow By Over 32% appeared first on Techzim.

EcoCash are taking away agent lines from agents whose lines have not been active for 90 days or more. The fintech company says they want to reissue the lines to other potential agents who may want to use them.

In the same statement EcoCash reminded their agents that the agent line is and remains the property of EcoCash and its issued on the condition that it will be used to facilitate transactions on the ecosystem.

EcoCash also says agent lines cannot be sold to other users.

Looks like the mobile money operator is still continuing with a clean up of its platform. If you remember last year they barred a number of agent lines and there was an uproar with the agents. At that time EcoCash said they had done the action against rogue agents that were selling cash and such related activities.

Probably EcoCash now wants to make sure agent lines are not being held for speculative purposes. It’s also probable that some of these lines were lost a long time ago and the holders just didn’t bother to reopen them given that cashing in and out is not a very common thing anymore.

Some of the holders could also have since left the country. Some folks just up and leave and not even think of closing accounts and such. Sadly, some of the holders could also have passed away and no one notified the operator.

So, yes a clean up makes sense and is important.

This time at least there is some warning and a clear position on what the agents concerned can do to avoid losing their lines. The company says an agent with an inactive line has to fund it with a minimum of RTGS$500.

According to POTRAZ, EcoCash had 26 529 active agents at the end of 2018.

var airtime_amount = form["co[airtime_amount]"].value.trim();

if ( !RegExp("^(\\d{1,2}|\\d{1,2}\\.\\d(\\d?|0?))$","gm").test(airtime_amount) || airtime_amount < 0.1 || airtime_amount > 50 ) { alert("Airtime amount should be between 0.1 and 50 with max of 2 decimals."); return false; }

var number_to_recharge = form["co[phone_to_recharge]"].value.trim(); var ecocash_number = form["co[ecocash_number]"].value.trim(); var target_network = "";

if ( RegExp("^(077[1-9]|078[2-5])\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ){ target_network = "Econet"; } else if( RegExp("^073[2-9]\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "Telecel"; } else if( RegExp("^071[2-9]\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "NetOne"; } else if( RegExp("^08644\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "Africom"; }

if (target_network.length === 0){ alert("Please enter a valid NetOne/Telecel/Econet/Africom number to recharge e.g 071x123456 or 08644123456"); return false; } else { if ( RegExp("^(077[1-9]|078[2-5])\\d{6}$","gm").test(ecocash_number) ){ var answer = confirm("You are buying $" + airtime_amount + " for " + number_to_recharge + ", click OK and check your EcoCash phone to confirm.");

if ( answer === true ) { var loader = document.getElementsByClassName("co-simple-buying-form-loader");

loader[0].style = "display: block";

jQuery.ajax({ type:"POST", url: "https://www.techzim.co.zw/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php", data: { "action": "co_handle_simple_buying_form", "co[phone_to_recharge]": number_to_recharge, "co[airtime_amount]": airtime_amount, "co[ecocash_number]": ecocash_number, }, success: function(data){ if ( data.success === true ) { window.location.href = data.order_received_url; } else if ( data.success === false ) { alert( data.error_message ); } }, error: function(){ window.location.href = "https://www.techzim.co.zw"; } }); }

return false; } else { alert("Please enter a valid EcoCash number e.g 07xx123456"); return false; } } }

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The post EcoCash Taking Away Inactive Agent Lines appeared first on Techzim.

Nobody likes the inconvenience that comes with sending someone money via mobile money if the recipient isn’t on the same network as you. That much has been established and is one of the reasons why Econet has managed to keep their subscriber base extremely high as their dominance on the mobile money front means you simply need to have an EcoCash line.

It wasn’t clear how unpopular cross-network mobile money transfers have become until the most recent POTRAZ report, which showed a 59% drop in the amounts sent between networks from Q3 to Q4 last year. Cross-network mobile transactions fell from $239 700 to $98 092 and POTRAZ is blaming the decline on the lack of interoperability:

Cross-network transactions have been declining and this is attributable to the lack of comprehensive wallet to wallet interoperability amongst the three mobile money providers.

Another reason why cross network transfers have become less relevant can be attributed to the fact that these transactions are shared between Telecash and OneMoney who have 4.6% of the active mobile money subscriber market share. It’s not entirely surprising that these transactions have been plummeting since most people using mobile money are subscribed to EcoCash thus the need to perform cross-network transfers is minimized. This may be changing pretty soon, however, with NetOne’s OneMoney subscriber base on the rise.

Thankfully, there’s an alternative…

Thankfully this lack of interoperability will not continue to leave users with a less than ideal experience as Steward Bank’s Sosholoza fixes the issue of interoperability between wallets. Sosholoza allows users to perform wallet to wallet transactions without the need for a third party (agent) and best of all the platform is accessible on WhatsApp. The cross-network statistic in the POTRAZ report will continue to plummet since Sosholoza transactions are considered wallet to bank transactions with both Telecash and OneMoney being on the Zimswitch platform. Consumers get the best deal as you are not tied to Econet solely because of EcoCash…

var airtime_amount = form["co[airtime_amount]"].value.trim();

if ( !RegExp("^(\\d{1,2}|\\d{1,2}\\.\\d(\\d?|0?))$","gm").test(airtime_amount) || airtime_amount < 0.1 || airtime_amount > 50 ) { alert("Airtime amount should be between 0.1 and 50 with max of 2 decimals."); return false; }

var number_to_recharge = form["co[phone_to_recharge]"].value.trim(); var ecocash_number = form["co[ecocash_number]"].value.trim(); var target_network = "";

if ( RegExp("^(077[1-9]|078[2-5])\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ){ target_network = "Econet"; } else if( RegExp("^073[2-9]\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "Telecel"; } else if( RegExp("^071[2-9]\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "NetOne"; } else if( RegExp("^08644\\d{6}$","gm").test(number_to_recharge) ) { target_network = "Africom"; }

if (target_network.length === 0){ alert("Please enter a valid NetOne/Telecel/Econet/Africom number to recharge e.g 071x123456 or 08644123456"); return false; } else { if ( RegExp("^(077[1-9]|078[2-5])\\d{6}$","gm").test(ecocash_number) ){ var answer = confirm("You are buying $" + airtime_amount + " for " + number_to_recharge + ", click OK and check your EcoCash phone to confirm.");

if ( answer === true ) { var loader = document.getElementsByClassName("co-simple-buying-form-loader");

loader[0].style = "display: block";

jQuery.ajax({ type:"POST", url: "https://www.techzim.co.zw/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php", data: { "action": "co_handle_simple_buying_form", "co[phone_to_recharge]": number_to_recharge, "co[airtime_amount]": airtime_amount, "co[ecocash_number]": ecocash_number, }, success: function(data){ if ( data.success === true ) { window.location.href = data.order_received_url; } else if ( data.success === false ) { alert( data.error_message ); } }, error: function(){ window.location.href = "https://www.techzim.co.zw"; } }); }

return false; } else { alert("Please enter a valid EcoCash number e.g 07xx123456"); return false; } } }

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The post Mobile Money Users Hate Sending Money Across Networks As Those Type Of Transactions Fall By 59% appeared first on Techzim.

OneMoney has followed in the footsteps of Ecocash to introduce its own nano loan, dubbed Katsaona. Katsaona enables OneMoney customers to access collateral-free loans of up to $50 in just 3 minutes (at most) straight into their OneMoney mobile wallet.

In the same way, EcoCash partnered with Steward Bank to offer their nano loans, so has OneMoney partnered the Women’s Bank to offer Katsaona loan service. Katsaona nano loans are also accessed using the USSD code – *550# a medium that doesn’t require customers to be involved in that tiresome paperwork.

Terms and Conditions

You can borrow at least $10 bucks and a maximum of $50. However, its not entirely up to you to decide how much you can borrow because OneMoney’s algorithms determine how much you qualify for based on your ability to repay the loan. The nano loans have a maximum repayment period of 30 days and you are charged 10% as the interest rate. In the case that you failed to pay back the money in 30 days, you will pay a 15% penalty fee on top of the interest rate.

Who qualifies?

Your OneMoney account should be up and running for more than a month to qualify for the Katsaona loan. Remember that having an idle account is one thing, and account that is used several times (active account) a month is another. So don’t expect to qualify for any loan if you just opened a OneMoney account and then ‘keep quite‘.

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The post OneMoney Now Offering ‘Katsaona’ Collateral Free Loans appeared first on Techzim.

How many times have you heard the phrase, “The world is a global village.” Probably a lot. When Marshall McLuhan, who Google search credits as the originator of that saying, uttered those words he was describing how the world has been shrunk by modern advances in communication tools.

This simple and overly used phrase – cliché is what they call it- resonated with me more significantly after Apple’s event on Monday night. For the first time I saw some similarities between Apple and local telecoms company Econet.

Established players

Apple is a giant in the hardware industry and has made the most popular smartphone in the world –the iPhone- for years now. Alongside the iPhone, there have been iPods, iPads, Macbooks, Macs and now Airpods. All of these products have been hits in one way or another and to say that Apple has been at the top of consumer electronics for a while now, would be an understatement.

The company was the first tech company to ever reach a valuation of one trillion dollars last year and even though that valuation quickly came down, Apple’s dominance in their field over the past decade has remained undeniable…

In the other corner we have Econet, the largest telecoms company (by subscriber share) in Zimbabwe. Noone comes close… According to the most recent data shared by POTRAZ, Econet has 8.5 million of the 12.9 million mobile network subscribers in the country. That’s over 66% of the market and nothing to scoff at.

Their nearest competitor NetOne has 3.2 million subscribers and it’s believed that they haven’t turned a calendar year profit for over a decade (It’s hard to know how true this is since NetOne isn’t publicly traded and does not share it’s results).

Like Apple, Econet has dominated their industry over the last few years (and more in Econet’s case) but the similarity doesn’t end there. It would be weird if we were just comparing the two company’s based on dominance only…

Breaking point

Econet has 8 million subscribers and they’ve probably figured out that it won’t get much better than that anytime soon. I mean something could happen to Telecel and there might be a number of subscribers to mop up there; but it’s fair to say -with 12.9 million subscribers- the mobile network companies have reached their peak when it comes to the customers they can sell their service to.

Apple has slowly but surely creeping towards the same reality. Earlier this year it became clear that iPhone sales were slowing down and when Apple eventually confirmed this, investors weren’t too chuffed about that. American investor obsession with never-ending growth is a  bit weird if you ask me but heck, it is what it is.

These are both giants that are still profitable but have reached what one would consider to be full potential within their core business offerings. But that’s not all as even the ways they have countered this is also similar…

Pivoting players

Now we get to focus on the more recent stuff with Apple. The company announced a bunch of new services that are not exactly in the domain that they have become popular for and here’s a list of them:

• Apple News Plus – a subscription offering for magazines, which is launching with over 300 publications as well as digital subscriptions to newspapers like The Wall Street Journal. It’s $9.99 per month, first month free, with Family Sharing

• Apple TV+ – an upcoming over-the-top ad-free subscription video on-demand web television service announced by Apple Inc. in 2019 during their March 25 Apple Special Event held at Steve Jobs Theater.

• Apple Card – a credit card developed by Apple Inc., designed primarily to be used with Apple Pay on Apple devices such as an iPhone or Apple Watch. It will be available in the United States at launch in the summer of 2019.

• Apple Arcade – a video game subscription service announced at the Apple Special Event on March 25, 2019 by Apple Inc. It is set to release on iOS, macOS, and tvOS in fall 2019.

Apple knows the iPhone and probably their hardware division as a whole is slowing down so what do they do to look for growth? They shift gears and go into a bunch of new services. This isn’t the first services they’ve offered with likes of Apple Music existing but that alone is not enough and thus the new services.

Now this is not to say Apple is in crisis. Tech analyst, Ben Thompson sums it up perfectly:

Apple is very much not doomed – but it is no longer growing, leaving Apple no choice but to look elsewhere

Ben Thompson

When Econet started realising that they had built their fort (the network service) to a point where growth would be minimal what happened? We slowly but surely saw them shift from their network service to providing other services. Initially most of these services were dependant on the network but eventually some were launched that have nothing to do with the network. Here are some of them (in no particular order):

• EcoLife (now known as EcoSure) – provides insurance solutions that include funeral cover, education cover, and motor vehicle insurance directly from your mobile phone, app or web.

• EcoCash – a mobile payment solution that enables customers to complete financial transactions directly from their mobile phone.

• Vaya – a ride-hailing app. (Think uber)

• Ownai – an eCommerce Marketplace.

There are a bunch more services offered by Econet but these ones illustrate my point pretty clearly. Both companies have pivoted in the face of stagnating growth. Now this is now to say Econet or Apple were in trouble before launching these products but it certainly is where they expect to make more value for existing and potential investors…

A few years from now we will be able to compare if these pivots were succesful or not

Hush…

Before someone rushes to the comments and cries “How much did Econet pay you to compare them to one of the biggest companies in the world!!!”, just take a moment to ask yourself why I’ve chosen Econet and not NetOne or Telecel.

Both of Econet’s competitors have also pivoted just like Econet but they’ve done it after the giant has done so and found success. They have been more reactive not proactive.

The chasing pack in Zimbabwe’s telecoms sectors is still primarily focused on growing subscribers which is evident by their never-ending telecoms promotions. This leads me to believe that neither of the two see themselves as tech companies or are making deliberate pivots, but instead are the guys who started selling chickens because their next door neighbour had made a lot of money selling chickens. And indeed they may find success, but rarely to the extent of the guy who decided to sell chickens first…

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The post Apple’s Most Recent Event Shows The Tech Giant Has Some Similarities To Econet appeared first on Techzim.

EcoCash, Zimbabwe’s biggest mobile money services provider with over 95% share of the market has been having problems lately. In the last couple of weeks the platform seemed to have stabilised but today…

This afternoon

For over two hours in the afternoon EcoCash was not working properly. The most problematic transactions were ‘pay merchant’ transactions. Specifically those that are initiated by the merchant e.g when you buy stuff in a super market and the attendant asks you for your EcoCash number and the next thing, your phone is asking you for a PIN to confirm the transaction.

Sending money and initiating merchant payment yourself as well as transfers to bank or transfers from bank were working just fine. It looks like there is a problem with the integration between EcoCash and merchants, this seems to be the most affected by the outrages. In Harare’s CBD a lot of merchants were not accepting EcoCash as a payment method in the afternoon.

Now…

Right now the platform is down again. This time you can’t access any of the menus. Whether you are using the app or USSD, you can’t access the service.

EcoCash is the most important consumer transaction platform in Zimbabwe processing most of such transactions. Whatever is causing these now frequent down times needs to be fixed. A platform of this importance must not go down for two hours.

The post EcoCash Down Again For The 2nd Time Today, Now It’s Worse appeared first on Techzim.

EcoCash has warned users of fraudulent scammers exploiting investment schemes. We’ve all heard that if something is too good to be true, it probably is. Unfortunately, people still fall for schemes that promise quick and huge returns.

The warning from EcoCash reads:

Fraudulent Investment Schemes

Beware of FAKE investment schemes operating in the market. Some of them are offering unbelievable returns.

All deposit-taking institutions and investment schemes must be licensed by regulatory authorities and have an obligation to display their licences to the public. Make sure to verify and confirm that you are dealing with a licensed institution before parting with your HARD EARNED money.

Could it be related to Bitcoin schemes?

Whilst EcoCash did not directly name the scheme that may have triggered this, over the last year there have been a number of Bitcoin investment groups that sound pretty sketchy. We covered one of them last year.

We also stumbled upon AWS Club which we stumbled upon towards the latter end of the year and that sounded sketchy even though I could not get to the bottom of it and explicitly figure out whether they were taking people for a spin or not. They did make their main targets people in remote areas across the country as they would obviously have less knowledge of how a Ponzi scheme works and even less knowledge of how Bitcoin works.

Another possibility could be that off Ponzi schemes, which often promise amazing rewards for simply signing up and investing a few dollars and then getting a number of other people to sign up.

The post “Beware Of Scammers,” EcoCash Warns Users appeared first on Techzim.

Back in November, EcoCash announced a new set of tariffs for transacting on their platform and you would be forgiven for thinking that since then those tariffs haven’t changed.

The reality is that EcoCash has a new set of tariffs that came into being today and the new tariffs are said to be 30-80% higher than before by Telecompaper.

How did we come across the change? Well, we got a tip alerting us of the change and the tip read:

Good morning,
Seems like Econet have increased massively their ecocash charges today.
I have just sent RTGS$ 10 to a relative and they deducted 29 cents, yesterday it was 16 cents.
Have you heard anything concerning this please?

Anonymous tip

Afterwards a colleague and I sent each other some money back and forth just to see whether or not there was any shift. Sending $5.00 should see 7c being deducted but 12c was deducted instead. Similarly, sending anything between $10.01 and $20.00 used to see EcoCash taking a maximum of 72c but my colleague sent me $11 and got charged 83c.

After digging around a bit I then found the newly effected tariffs:

The post EcoCash Increases Tariffs appeared first on Techzim.