3,5 million registered for EcoCash

Published: 04 February 2014

ZIMBABWE'S largest mobile phone operator by subscription Econet Wireless has registered over 3,5 million subscribers on its EcoCash mobile money platform, a company executive has said.

He said the mobile phone operator was targeting eight million subscribers by year end.

Econet Services chief executive officer Darlington Mandivenga told NewsDay that: "We have since grown the number of EcoCash registered customers to over 3,5 million, but what is important for us is that the usage is increasing.

"We are seeing more people, especially in the rural areas, beginning to use the Eco-Cash service. Our desire is every single one of our customers to be on EcoCash."

Mandivenga said Econet would continue to introduce new products aimed at improving the lives of its customers.

"Our innovation programme has continued to introduce new products, from sending and receiving money. People are now able to make all sorts of payments, including paying salaries. We have introduced the savings account (EcoCashSave) and especially those who are on the bottom of the pyramid are now able to save," he said.

Mandivenga said EcoCash has been operating for the past two years and Econet will continue to introduce more innovative products on the market.

Last week, Econet launched a new initiative, EcoSchool, at the University of Zimbabwe aimed at capacitating students in Zimbabwe by making books available at a cheaper price.

Commenting on the launch of EcoSchool, Mandivenga said the idea of EcoSchool went beyond simply making books available at a cheaper price for students, but was part of a strategy to help students and their lecturers gain access to materials and courses from across the globe.

Mandivenga said EcoSchool offered digital education for all by giving access to quality information, anywhere and at any time.

"Our desire is to provide solutions to problems that are being faced in Zimbabwe; we want to make sure that we improve financial inclusion; we want to improve access to education, and we want to improve access to health," Mandivenga said.

EcoSchool, currently being run as a pilot project, is expected to be rolled out to other universities.
- newsday

Tags: EcoCash,