The new EcoCash app looks much better than its ancestor but bugs sully experience on launch day

So, EcoCash finally updated its mobile app. Or rather they replaced it with a better app. The new app was launched today and is available on the App Store, Google Play Store and Huawei App Gallery.

The old one was too long in the tooth and felt like something from the 90s and thankfully, we don’t have to deal with it and its inconsistencies any more.

Don’t fret though if you relied on the old app, it will only be decommissioned in 3 months’ time. That should be ample time to transition.

Look at just the homepages and even if you have never used an EcoCash app, you should be able to tell the old from the new.

It’s not just a new paintjob, there is some new stuff in the new app. Of course, you get the “buying airtime, paying for ZESA tokens, as well as paying merchants such as supermarkets and paying bills at institutions such as hospitals” stuff.

New stuff

DStv payments have been added and EcoCash seems excited about that.

Also new to the app are Bureau de Change services, meaning you can exchange ZiG for USD right from the EcoCash app. No more running to that old money changer friend of yours.

Another addition to the new app is a feature that makes it easy for customers to send money to several recipients simultaneously. It’s simply labeled ‘Send To Many’ and EcoCash says it is “perfect for businesses, organizations and individuals who need to make multiple payments quickly and efficiently, saving valuable time.”

Also new to the app is the ability to download statements and if you don’t want that, you can view an expanded transaction history. It looks like this and should be sufficient in most cases:

That seems to be the extent of what’s new but the app now supports biometric identification so you can use your fingerprint or FaceID to unlock the app.

It wasn’t all additions, some features were nuked. Gone are Kashagi, EcoCash Savings, EcoCash Diaspora and Locate Us.

What we think about the app

Features

Even if all they did was update the design, we would have been happy with that. They actually added some features that were sorely needed. I know a number of traders who regularly have to send money to multiple people and I know they will love ‘Send To Many.’

The Bureau De Change feature should be useful too but if we’re being honest, people will only use it to get USD at the official exchange rate, which I imagine EcoCash will have to use.

When it comes time to convert that USD to ZiG, users will hit the streets, it’s illegal for them to do that, but we all know that’s what they will do whenever they can.

So, EcoCash will be giving out USD and getting ZiG in return far more than the other way round. Meaning I wouldn’t be surprised if you find this service temporarily not available most times when you want to offload your ZiG to EcoCash.

Design

For the design they went with an ‘everything on the homepage’ approach. I count 15 icons on the page, excluding the bottom bar and currency switcher at the top. Then the Bill Management can be accessed via a button and a scrollable little island below, I don’t know why it was duplicated. It looks a little too busy.

Despite that, I think it looks good. It’s not the best designed app you will see but it’s not offensive either.

I don’t like the inclusion of a banner advertising some Econet/EcoCash services at the bottom of the homepage. I understand why it exists but I don’t have to like it. It detracts from the cleanness of the homepage with it automatically scrolling like it does.

Bugs

Bill Management is broken at the moment. The app never finishes loading billers if you click the Bill Management button. If you click directly on individual billers on the carousel little island below, DStv and ZESA work but Liquid and Nyaradzo don’t.

The full Manage Bills page is currently not working. You can’t click on anything nor can you type out anything.

There are a few other bugs which I’m sure will be ironed out in time.

For example, you cannot access the exchange rates from the Bureau de Change page and trying to check what the send limit for USD is results in the app trying to initiate some transaction for which it notified me that I had insufficient funds. I don’t know what would have happened had my account been topped up.

You can see this transaction above on the expanded transaction list I attached. Here are screenshots of the other errors I encountered.

Final thoughts

Again, the new app is welcome. There are a lot more bugs than we would have liked to see and yet we didn’t even test everything. We hope these will be squashed shortly and I believe the new app will be a joy to use.

I did notice though that the new app does not seem to be zero-rated at the moment. That means you can’t use it unless you have a data bundle or are on Wi-Fi. That will severely limit the app’s usage in Zim where most people only get WhatsApp bundles and have no WiFi access. I imagine this too will be rectified in the future.

Otherwise people will keep using USSD even though it’s a much worse experience. I do think it’s not enough to simply zero-rate it though.

There needs to be an awareness campaign and free WiFi access to download the app at Econet/EcoCash shops. Zimbos are not app people and if they can manage without having to download an app, they will do that.

Proper incentives are needed to lure them otherwise all the work that went into the app will only be enjoyed by a few.

If the above is addressed, I believe the new app stands a good chance of succeeding. The Eonet group will not want a repeat of the Sasai app fiasco.

Interesting to note how feature packed this app is when compared to the competition. The ball is in InnBucks, O’Mari and others’ court now. I should stress though that the competition is not to see who can pack their app with the most features. It’s about useful features.

Also read:

• The separation could be over soon – Econet to absorb EcoCash but Steward to stand alone
• InnBucks now offering remittances from South Africa
• Econet says send money for free from South Africa and the UK