• Steward Bank can’t shake it off but recovers remarkably from half year loss

    Econet Wireless owned “tech bank” Steward Bank has recorded a loss of $26.3 million for the operating year ended March 2014. Econet Wireless announced this in a media release and the parent company is confident that Steward Bank “would soon turn to profitability”. Although the loss indicates that Steward Bank is not out of the woods…

  • Econet Wireless Zimbabwe posts firm results with dividends for shareholders

    Econet Wireless Zimbabwe announced its financial results today for the period ending February 2014. The financial services and telecoms company is the country’s largest mobile services provider by subscriber number and provides a host of services through its network and financial institution, Steward Bank. After tax profit for the period stood at $119.4 million. $20 million…

  • Heartbleed was a good thing: Give and you shall receive

    When I read the report that said for the past several years the entire amount received in donations by the OpenSSL project was a mere $2000 in donations per year; I was shocked. Surely the article was wrong and may be they meant to say monthly instead of yearly. As, more news articles popped up…

  • Econet to integrate systems with Western Union

    A report in the Herald has stated that a commercial agreement has been reached between money transfer services Western Union and Econet Wireless which will allow people to send money from abroad straight into EcoCash wallets. Under this new arrangement there will be no need to visit a Western Union branch as the money sent…

  • Steward Bank retrenchments strategic or late response to $24 million loss

    The Herald yesterday reported that Steward Bank is closing 8 branches and consequently retrenching scores of employees. The Herald report does not give an indication of the timelines nor any official comment from Steward Bank and I am afraid that’s still the way it is. Our unofficial sources close to the bank collaborate the explanation given…

  • Econet’s partnership with WorldRemit a smart way to stay in money remittance?

    The money transfer and remittance services industry is a big deal and it’s something we understand here in Africa because of the huge monetary inflows from the diaspora. At an annual figure of $64 billion for recorded inflows (this excludes well established informal channels) this industry has attracted a lot of investor attention. On the…

  • How mobile micro-credit loan schemes can devastate our economy – Part 2

    Taxing the informal sector, like our government is preparing to do will only eat further into the already small incomes of informally employed members of our society, forcing them to rely more on micro-credit as a means of coping with poverty. This will likely result in a largely poor population that is stuck in debt.…

  • Award winning video from Deloitte shows the reality of cyber security

    Recently a video created by Deloitte UK, entitled “Cyber Security. Evolved”  collected multiple awards for highlighting, in a captivating and entertaining way, how cyber security is real, immediate and not just figment of Hollywood style fiction. The video has brought a realisation of how these threats can affect an organisation and how the right strategy…

  • How mobile micro-credit loan schemes can devastate our economy – Part 1

    A lot has been said here at Techzim and other places about Econet’s foray into mobile micro-finance. As is the custom with anything that Econet Wireless does these days, there has been some suspicion and general skepticism about what EcoCashLoans means for Zimbabwe, some of it has been unjustified. For that reason, I feel that…

  • Econet says it won’t back down on its demands to banks

    Econet Wireless has pronounced a firm refusal to back down on it’s demand on banks to pay a tariff of 30 cents to gain access to its transaction messaging system. This is according to a report in The Herald that quotes Econet Chief Executive Douglas Mboweni reaffirming this stance. According to the article, Mboweni insists…

  • Facebook reported to be venturing into money transfer services

    Facebook is reportedly planning to venture into financial services by providing a facility for its users in select countries to store money, transfer funds and make online payments. A report from The Financial Times explains how the social network is on the verge of securing regulatory clearance in Ireland to become an “e-money” institution that…

  • OneWallet now pays ZESA prepaid electricity credit, so does CBZ & ZB Bank

    NetOne’s OneWallet customers will now be able to buy ZESA prepaid electricity credit via OneWallet mobile money solution. In a press statement, NetOne said the integration is part of a deal between NetOne and the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission Distribution Corporation (ZETDC). Both are state owned enterprises. We are not certain how many customers are on…

  • Why are these mobile money fraudsters difficult to catch?

    In an advice article published in the Sunday Mail today (read it so you don’t fall prey), the police warned readers that fraudsters in Zimbabwe are now using mobile money services like EcoCash, Telecash, OneWallet and others, to conveniently take money from victims. A common trick, says the article, is one targeted at job seekers who…

  • HIT dropout builds functional airtime vending machine prototype from scrap

    George Chingore, a Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) dropout has built a functional airtime vending machine prototype from scrap computer components he assembled through the help of friends. George Chingore pitched his airtime vending machine prototype at Pitch Night hosted by Emerging Ideas. George was presenting his venture called Protonics which he hopes will replace…

  • Techzim Podcast: Talking about getting social #GetSocial

    So we thought we’d do a podcast specially focused on the #GetSocial event. In this Techzim Podcast we provide more information, answer some questions about what to expect there, the content, the amazing line up of speakers, the powerful networking to expect! [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/141484126″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=true&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] If you haven’t bought your ticket…

  • James Makamba on Telecash so far: great launch and great reception

    Telecel Zimbabwe chairman, James Makamba, spoke about his company’s new mobile money product last week on CNBC Africa’s Closing Bell show referring to Telecash as having had a great launch and great reception by the market so far. he didn’t share any figures though, something we expected him to do. Makamba admitted though that as…

  • Telecel announces 63% increase in Telecash agents & merchants since launch

    We’ve just received a press release from Telecel on the developments of their now  almost two months old mobile money service Telecash. In the press release Telecel is basically saying that despite the challenges signing up agents (remember the agent war) they are actually fairing very well. In the sense they have added 1,000 more…

  • Telecash interoperability taking shape as insurance companies come on board

    Telecel launched Telecash with interoperability as their main trump card and that promise seems to taking shape gradually. . Today Telecel announced via their Facebook page that Telecash users could now pay their insurance premiums via the mobile money service. Based on the announcement and advert, the service seems to be only active with three…

  • Techzim Podcast: thoughts on Dennis Magaya, Bitcoin’s future and the #MWC14

    The story on Dennis Magaya’s dismissal from Powertel was a contentious issue on Techzim.co.zw and also dominated the discussions in this podcast. We also discussed the auto registrations to EcoCash, the RBZ’s directive to mobile money operators, the demise of MtGox and the Samsung Galaxy S5. William Chui also shares is experiences at the Mobile…

  • Astro to launch Mobi Store next week, we are cautiously excited about it

    Local mobile devices brand Astro is set to launch a new product called the Astro Mobi Store at the e-Tech Africa Expo 2014 scheduled for 12-14 March 2014. Yesterday I was at the Astro offices in Harare and had a chat with the Astro CEO, Munyaradzi Gwatidzo who gave me a glimpse of the Astro Mobi…

  • RBZ Directive on mobile money agent wars: Econet says exclusivity up to agents

      Late last week we broke the story on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s directive to mobile money service providers, which basically said that mobile money agents can conduct services for multiple mobile financial service providers. No exclusivity except if special waiver requested. This follows a complaint to the Reserve Bank by Telecel that the biggest…

  • Breaking: Reserve Bank issues directive on mobile money agents. Telecash wins

    We have just received the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s official position on the mobile money agents war that was playing out between EcoCash and Telecash. The issue started after Telecel claimed that Econet was blocking them from accessing mobile money agents registered to rival mobile money provider EcoCash. Telecel then lodged an official complaint with…

  • Telecash moving on, now advertising Agents that can’t be “ruffled” by Econet

    For the first time since its launch. Telecel’s Telecash has started advertising its mobile money agent network in the local press. Telecel is currently embroiled in a bitter wrangle with Econet over access to mobile money agents that first signed up with EcoCash. The dispute is currently in the hands of the Reserve Bank of…

  • PayWay launches in Zimbabwe.. our brief thoughts on the payment service

    Through an article in The Sunday Mail today, Payway announced the launch of its electronic payment service which uses self service kiosks, an Android application, and standard electronic vending devices (the two via agents)  to allow customers to buy airtime, and make payment for other services like utility bills, Pay TV subscriptions and so on. In…

  • Mobile & Internet stats: Subscriber ceiling reached, data new area of growth

    For the first time, mobile penetration has exceeded 100% mainly driven by subscriber growth from Econet Wireless and Netone. The country’s second largest operator was apparently at receiving end of the network wars that characterised 2013 as it not only registered the slowest subscriber growth, but actually lost some subscribers between 2012 and 2013. The…

  • Another internet payments company, FloCash, announces Zimbabwe launch

    Last week Friday we wrote that PesaPal, a popular Eastern African internet payment gateway, is expanding to Zimbabwe, and a few hours later, as if not to be outdone, another payments company announced the expansion of eCommerce payments services into Zimbabwe. Despite being based in the UK, the payments company, FloCash, has been described by…

  • MMTAAZ: Mobile Money Agents form association to speak with unified voice

    Hot on the heels of the Telecash launch and an alleged subsequent fight over agents with Econet, a new Mobile Money agents association called Mobile Money Transfer Agents Association of Zimbabwe (MMTAAZ) has emerged, fronted by two founding Directors Francis Chinjekure and Thomas Muserepwa. We spoke to MMTAAZ’s Francis Chinjakure who told us that the…

  • Kenyan payments startup, PesaPal, expanding into Zimbabwe

    Kenyan internet payments startup PesaPal is expanding into Zimbabwe. Agosta Liko, the founder of the company told us recently that their focus for the Zimbabwe entry is eCommerce, Tourism, Hotels, School fees and bill payments. Pesapal already provides similar payment services in Kenya where it’s biggest, but it also has operations in Tanzania, Uganda. Locally, Liko…

  • What mobile banking USSD functionality exactly do banks want from Econet?

    So after publishing a number of articles on the situation between the banks and Econet, about neutral access to the Econet GSM network, we’ve received a number of questions about  what exactly the banks are being denied and what they want from Econet. So far we’ve talked of limited USSD functionality. Thought we could dedicate…

  • Here’s what EcoSchool is about

    Earlier today, we made a post about EcoSchool before the launch. It’s now just after the launch and we have more about the product and service. Here’s the summary: The Concept  First, the EcoSchool website is here: www.ecoschool.co.zw The EcoSchool concept is about making educational material available to students at a lower cost and much…

Exit mobile version