All The 20+ Steps To Register To Trade Shares On C Trade Using Kambudzi (USSD)

We used a smartphone to go through the USSD registration on C Trade. Using a feature phone without a qwerty keyboard was too taxing, a colleague now hates me for asking that she goes through it. We also wanted to use screenshots so a smartphone was the only way.

Please read the accompanying article that explains the process of registering on C Trade via web and mobile app. That article also discusses the limitations of the USSD platform. Here we will just go through the registration process.

If you are wondering: C Trade is a platform that allows you to trade on Zimbabwe’s capital markets via the web, a mobile app or a series of text messages (USSD).

Here are the USSD steps

I have marked X on steps that I think can be eliminated to make the process less tedious. I put a question mark on the step that asks for nationality because this question is not even asked when registering using the website. Why lengthen USSD more than web?

Our Attempt To Deposit And Start Trading

After going through all that process to be told deposits are currently not available did not feel fair.

Hear me well, I am excited about this development. Allowing people to trade on capital markets using the most basic of mobile phones is a big deal. Now, someone in the rural areas can participate on these markets. The job that’s left to be done is to have wide spread retail investor education.

The above process also needs streamlining to eliminate friction as much as possible. Otherwise, kudos to Securities Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe, Escrow Group, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, Finsec….