The Sunday Mail
BANKERS, mobile phone operators and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe senior officials will converge in the capital tomorrow for the Mobile Money and Digital Payments Conference.
The ICT, Postal and Courier Services Minister Supa Mandiwanzira, RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya and bank and telecommunication companies representatives are expected to attend.
Experts contend that there is need for operational and legal parameters to govern seemingly overlapping roles of mobile money payment systems and conventional banking.
The growth of mobile money transfers and mobile cash savings has led to an uneasy relationship between banks and mobile phone service providers. Banks argue that mobile companies cannot perform deposit-taking functions while avoiding the regulatory burden of statutory capital requirements and risk management capabilities.
According to the central bank’s July report, transactions processed through mobile-based transactions rose to US$2,4 billion in the first five months of 2015.
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe runs the EcoCash mobile money payment platform, while NetOne and Telecel Zimbabwe offer services through One Wallet and TeleCash, respectively.
Estimates suggest these firms, with more than 25 000 mobile money agents, now eclipse banks, who have an estimated 500 ATMs.
Oxlink Capital, the conference organisers, are of the opinion that a stakeholders meeting will help shape regulation and reduce costs for consumers.
Oxlink public relations executive Mr Steve Nyamuzinga said, “The response has been amazing from the delegates of various backgrounds who form the backbone of the mobile money ecosystem. We are hopeful that the debates and contributions that are going to come through will go a long way in shaping progressive regulation, enable interoperability among players and create a very competitive play field that will eventually lower costs for the consumers and spur the industry towards growth.”
Despite being implored by policymakers to create a seamless ecosystem where consumers can readily move cash between services, mobile phone companies have been reluctant to open up their platforms to rivals.
Subscribers of EcoCash, which is the biggest mobile money service on the local market, cannot move their money to TeleCash and One Wallet.
Interoperability – through which companies open up their platforms – is also still a challenge between banks and telecommunication companies. Market watchers contend that financial sector regulators should increase and improve their oversight over the growing sector.
In November 2013, the former advisor to ex-RBZ Governor Dr Gideon Gono, Dr Munyaradzi Kereke, issued an advisory to legislators claiming that EcoSave, an adaptation of EcoCash, was illegal as it violated the country’s Constitution and banking laws.
He noted that acceptance of deposits was only restricted to licenced banking institutions.
“Econet Wireless therefore cannot legally accept deposits from the public, even in electronic money form. The advice to the RBZ, Econet Wireless and Steward Bank is that they must quickly realign the provisions of the terms and conditions of EcocashSave product to be consistent with the provisions of the lwa or needlessly risk penal applications of the law,” read the advisory.
Africa has the largest number of mobile money users in the world, with 146 million registered accounts and 69,1 million active users as of December 2014, according to GSMA Mobile Money Intelligence Unit.
In Zimbabwe, mobile money agents have sprouted because of minimal entry barriers, with US$200 being the minimum required to open agency in Zimbabwe with some mobile money companies.
Comparatively, the cost of opening a physical bank branch ranges from anything around US$78 000 to US$120 000 and a single ATM costs around US$22 000 to install.
