Econet extends offer to send money for free, working on adding other markets after SA, UK

Last month we talked about how Econet made remittances from South Africa and the UK free. We understood this to be a promotion and that it would be available for a short period of time. Well, Econet says it was so well received that they are making it available for the foreseeable future.

So, anyone in South Africa and the UK who uses EcoCash to send money to their friends and family in Zimbabwe can do so without incurring any charges for a long time to come. The offer extends to the recipients who will be able to cash out for free.

You can experience all this via the new EcoCash app, which provides a superior experience to *151# (USSD).

While we don’t have anything but love for the promotion, naturally, questions arose, ‘Why not offer the same to senders in other countries?’

Econet CEO Mboweni says,

We are now actually working on expanding the free remittances to Zimbabwe to other source markets, such as the US, Europe and Middle East, so that Zimbabweans with friends and family in those regions can also benefit from our offer. However, our group currently does not have licenses that allow us to extend the service to all markets at this time. But we are busy looking at how we can do that.

So, let’s hope they succeed in expanding the offer to those markets. We really do need the remittances to pour in. There is no shame in admitting it, our economy would collapse without the funds our brethren in the diaspora are sending. So, on behalf of all Zimbabweans resident in this little teapot of ours, thank you dear diasporan.

You don’t have to send huge sums to make a difference, so don’t put pressure on yourself. You have no idea how far even $5 goes over here. EcoCash says there is no limit to how little you can send so feel free to take advantage.

Let the competition rage

For the longest time, we have all complained about the cost of moving money. Domestically, this was made worse by the government burdening us with an IMT Tax everytime we send money. They reduced the tax but it still exists.

Mobile money, which we use for domestic remittances is cheaper than banks that will not budge on their fees and commissions. However, with lower limits on mobile money transactions, the banks are guaranteed some action.

For now, the banks have no incentive to revise their charges but fortunately, when it comes to cross border transfers of the peer to peer type, we have options.

EcoCash is not the only option, we have the likes Mukuru, Western Union, Moneygram and even InnBucks. There are many more in this space and this competition is what leads to promotions like the EcoCash one above.

So, let’s hope they keep competing for our business and that it leads to reasonable charges when the freebie era ends.

Also read:

• Econet says send money for free from South Africa and the UK
• InnBucks now offering remittances from South Africa
• Exports and remittances both up 8%, are there too many players doing remittances though?