Cassava Smartech and Comviva have jointly won the East
Africa Com Award in the “Changing Lives” category for Cassava’s EcoCash mobile
money service powered by mobiquity®
Money. The award was presented recently at Radisson Blu Hotel in
Nairobi, Kenya. This is the second consecutive award for both companies as they
won the award in 2018 in the “Fintech innovation” category for EcoCash Merchant
Payments.
Cassava Smartech has
leveraged the ubiquity of mobile phones in Zimbabwe to convert the cash challenges
in the country into a financial inclusion opportunity. EcoCash mobile money
service enables financial inclusion by banking the unbanked and providing them
with access to easily accessible, quick, affordable, secure and convenient
mobile financial service. It has created a cash-light economy, by mitigating the cash-crisis in
Zimbabwe. EcoCash has created value for
financially-underserved segments while establishing financial infrastructure
and generating employment.
EcoCash started with
peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfer in 2011, bringing people using informal financial
channels into the formal economy on the EcoCash network. It then introduced
banking services such as EcoCash Save and Savings Club, promoting financial inclusion
which helped in mobilizing small-savings.
EcoCash partnered
with banks (for bank-to-wallet and wallet-to-bank transfers), corporate
employers (for salary payments) and with MTO’s (for international remittance)
to accelerate cash inflows at a minimum cost. By partnering with large, medium
and small merchants, agents and billers, EcoCash expanded its acceptance network
and digitized all major bill and merchant payments, including government
payments, such tax payments and toll payments.
Commenting on the award, the Chief Executive Officer for Cassava Smartech
Zimbabwe, Mr Eddie Chibi said: “We are delighted to win this award for the second
consecutive year. We are committed to constantly seeking out new ways to
deliver innovative digital payment solutions which provide convenience to our
customers, and which help them solve real problems in a meaningful way. We hope
to continue the good work and ensure the growth and prosperity of the mobile
money ecosystem in Zimbabwe.”
Anil Krishnan, Head of Africa Region
at Comviva said:
“This award validates our efforts in bringing innovative fintech services to
the forefront. Cassava’s EcoCash in Zimbabwe is one such service which has
replaced cash and is helping in building a cash-light economy. Today, more than
80 percent of country’s adult population use EcoCash. The service has brought many
financially-excluded people into formal financial ecosystem, increasing
financial inclusion in the country from below 40% to over 80%.”
East
Africa Com Awards celebrate the achievements of companies and individuals at
the forefront of digital transformation in East Africa. The award recognizes innovation
that brings digital disruption and benefits the people of the region.
The EcoCash
service is powered by Comviva’s mobiquity® Money platform. mobiquity® Money
delivers a host of mobile money services that transform the way consumers save,
borrow, transfer and spend money. It is designed to seamlessly integrate
consumer touch points with a wide ecosystem of banks, billers, merchants,
agents and third-party payment systems, creating a convergence powered by
interoperability.
Apart
from delivering convenience to consumers, the solution enables financial
service providers to acquire new customers, create long-term loyalty with
existing ones, and seize new revenue opportunities to increase their footprint
in the market. mobiquity® Money empowers financial service providers to be
agile in their markets, with complete focus on the customers. mobiquity® Money
has completed over 60 deployments in more than 45 countries. It serves 100
million customers globally and processes more than 5.5 billion transactions,
amounting to over US$110 billion annually.
