eBusiness Weekly
Tapiwanashe Mangwiro
EcoCash Holdings in the full year to February 2023, saw its business being anchored by financial technology based business and innovations as the company recorded improved revenue against prior year.
EcoCash board chairperson, Sherree Shereni, in a statement accompanying results said; “78 percent of our revenue was driven by the Fintech business followed by Insurtech at 17 percent and lastly Digital Platforms at 5 percent, in line with the prior year’s performance.”
Resultantly, EcoCash recorded revenue of $101,3 billion for the full year period ending February 2023, compared to $96,8 billion during the full year 2022, a 5 percent increase from prior year.
In the period under review, the company introduced EcoCash United States Dollar (USD) wallet as a way to consolidate its participation in the USD economy which, according to official reports as of January 2023, accounted for 76 percent of total economic expenditure.
Shereni added that; “We are encouraged by the growth in customers, volume and value transacted. The reduction of Intermediated Money Transfer Tax (IMTT) on USD domestic money transfer transactions from 4 percent to 2 percent effective January 1, 2023, has helped in the adoption and use of USD on digital money transfer services.”
In the banking services Steward Bank continued to grow its USD interest earning assets particularly in the corporate sector.
“This was coupled with an increase in foreign currency accounts (FCA) which grew by 34 percent. Our bank moved to capture a share of the growing domestic and international remittance market with the opening of The Eastgate Remittance Centre, a dedicated remittance facility for our customers to access funds sent to them from within and outside of Zimbabwe,” the chairperson said.
According to the bank, it is now focused on phase 2 of its digital transformation journey, which will see increased automation of systems and processes as well as enhanced capacity to launch innovative products.
Shereni added; “We are also expanding our Point-Of- Sale (POS) network through the deployment of multicurrency POS solutions to our merchant partners nationwide.”
Insurtech services saw life insurance business, EcoSure, continue to innovate and add new value adding products to remain relevant to customers in the fast-changing operating climate.
During the year, EcoCash launched the ‘Dura Pension Scheme’, aimed at the informal sector to ensure broad-based inclusion of all workers in retirement planning and also launched ‘Data Life Cover’, a new product that allows customers to get funeral cover as they purchase Econet data products.
“Bundled services with strategic partners will be key in driving growth in the future. The adoption of the USD packages has allowed the business to enhance life cover through assured USD benefits,” she continued.
In the period under review, Moovah, the short-term insurance business, embarked on a distribution network expansion project which to date has seen the business expanding to over 250 locations.
According to Shereni, this has further improved access and convenience for customers across the country.
“We are happy with the improvements in the claims process and overall service delivery as evidenced by growth in total policyholders. Through the health insurance business, Maisha Health Fund, we launched a micro insurance product, MaishaCare, an affordable healthcare package for those that previously had no health cover,” she said.
The product is riding on digital rails to on board customers, with no requirement to complete physical forms.
According to the board chair, the company is continuously improving access and convenience for its customers by growing their distribution footprint across the country.
“We launched the EcoCash Junior wallet, a mobile wallet for children between the ages of 9 and 18, aimed at improving financial literacy and financial inclusion. This product is experiencing steady growth and will be key in the growth of our subscriber base in the future.
“Over the period, we launched the EcoCash Chatbot, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered virtual assistant that handles customer service queries. To date, this AI powered virtual assistant has provided services to over 381,000 customers,” she said.
EcoCash in the period under review also launched Bill Manager, an integrated bill payments platform for all major billers.
The company said Bill Manager has helped to improve customers’ experience and real time account settlement to regular billers through EcoCash.
The system has integrated with local municipalities, insurance players for premium collections, universities, credit stores, retailers and utilities and this is part of their plan to implement digital solutions to enhance value proposition, reduce customer pain points, and improve financial inclusion.
The group achieved earnings before tax margin of 7 percent against 18 percent in the prior year mainly due to the pressure on costs due to the prevailing operating environment and the exchange losses related to the debentures amounted to US$30,1 billion for the year under review.
