Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
EHZL | |
Industry |
Banking Financial services Fintech Nano Loans |
Founded | 29 September 2011Harare, Zimbabwe | in
Headquarters | |
Key people |
Strive Masiyiwa ( Founder)
Munyaradzi Nhamo (Group Chief Executive Officer) |
Products | Mobile banking |
Website |
www |
EcoCash, is a mobile phone-based money transfer, financing and microfinancing service, launched in 2011 by Econet Wireless, for its customers in Zimbabwe. [1] [2] [3] [4] The platform has been targeted by the Zimbabwe government. [3] [4] The company's headquarters is in the EcoCash Holdings HQ along Liberation Legacy Road in Borrowdale, a suburb of Harare, the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. [5]
Econet allows users to deposit, withdraw, transfer money and pay for goods and services, including utility bills, from a mobile handset. Users can also buy pre-paid airtime or data bundles for themselves or others. Users can also redeem stored mobile money for cash. A fee for each service is deducted directly from the account stored on the mobile phone and accessed using a PIN. [6] Users can deposit and withdraw money, transfer money to other users, pay bills including water, electricity, cable, satellite and school fees, purchase airtime, and transfer money between the service and a regular bank account. [6] The service can be used from branches of ZimPost. [2] EcoCash provides international remittance services in partnership with major global remittance partners such as MoneyGram [7] and PayPal [8] [9] [10]
As of November 2017, EcoCash was reported to have 6.7 million registered users, [11] compared with 2 million conventional bank account holders in the country. [11] It controlled 99.8 percent of the mobile money market in Zimbabwe at the time. [11] During the first six years of existence, the service processed over $23 billion. [11] In 2017, Zimbabwe's GDP was valued at US$22 billion. [12]
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, a wireless telecommunications company based in Zimbabwe announced in 2011 that they were launching a mobile money transfer service called EcoCash. [1] The service was primarily targeted at Econet subscribers who would send money via text message to recipients who would cash out funds at an EcoCash agent. [2] Large merchants such as OK Zimbabwe and TM Supermarket were recruited as partners for facilitating cash in and cash out transactions. [13] Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) were also recruited as partners in the service to broaden the reach and accessibility of the service. [14]