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State-owned mobile communications giant NetOne’s mobile money platform OneMoney, has witnessed a significant rise in the number of new subscribers. This follows the statistics from the just-released POTRAZ (Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe) Sector Performance Report for the fourth quarter of 2020.
According to the Abridged Sector Performance Report fourth-quarter report by POTRAZ, the total number of active mobile money subscriptions as of 31 December 2020, was 6,495,682. This represents a 2.7 percent growth from 6,325,666 recorded as of 30 September 2020.
NetOne’s OneMoney recorded the highest percentage growth in mobile money subscribers as compared to its competitors. OneMoney’s subscriber base rose by a significant 9.6 percent.
A NetOne spokesperson commented saying, “Same time last year OneMoney had reached close to half a million subscribers after a year. Now we are nearing a million subscribers. We have doubled our subscribers in the space of one year. The growth has been cemented by our increased network coverage to previously marginalized areas, allowing subscribers an opportunity to transact using OneMoney. As we build on the growth, 2021 will be a year that our subscribers experience the addition of services through the OneMoney platform.”
The growth of OneMoney may be ascribed to the benefits, which include a ZimSwitch-enabled debit card that has become highly popular in the country’s cash-lite economy. The debit card is strengthened by the ability to shift money to and from banks on the ZimSwitch platform. Other benefits include the purchase of airtime and payments of utilities, such as ZESA prepaid electricity and municipal rates.
Globally, mobile money has become an important channel for effecting business transactions. In Zimbabwe, the liquidity crisis has given rise to increased use of mobile money platforms as alternative ease of transacting.