Mukuru has launched a mobile wallet in Zimbabwe to compete with more established fintech providers such as market leader EcoCash and InnBucks.
The company made its name in international transfers and will now enter the local mobile money transfer space with Mukuru Wallet, which allows users to send and receive money locally and internationally.
This is the first major product that Mukuru has launched since the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe gave the company a microfinance licence in December. The company is targeting the three million customers which it says already use its platforms.
Marc Carrie-Wilson, Send Money Home Zimbabwe CEO says: “With a network stretching across urban and rural areas, we can reach more people than ever, providing constant cash availability and valuable digital solutions, such as the Mukuru Wallet, to the underserved communities.”
Mukuru faces competition from EcoCash and InnBucks, who both have a wide network. It will also compete with O’mari, Old Mutual’s fintech business. Carrie-Wilson says “we now have 250 of our own service points”. The company is also looking to go beyond individual users to take on bulk payments for large enterprises.
“Our success in the end-user sector has enabled us to set in motion plans to enter the business sector. Whether it is for tobacco or cotton, payments made to farmers are often large sums of money,” says Kevin Nyakotyo, Mukuru’s Enterprise Sales Manager for Zimbabwe and Zambia.
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