GWERU — Gweru residents have now started paying bills using EcoCash following the introduction of the facility by the city council this month.
Report by Staff Reporters
Econet trained council cashiers in an exercise completed at the end of July. Finance director Edgar Mwedzi told the Southern Eye that cashiers were trained on how to use the service.
Mwedzi said the new development will witness an end to queues, as ratepayers can now pay their bills using mobile phones.
“Effective August, residents can now pay their water bills, rates and other services using EcoCash,” he said.
“We will no longer experience congestion as ratepayers would make their payments via cellphones.”
Meanwhile, Econet Wireless is finalising an innovative EcoCash platform that will see an increase in the volume of remittances to Zimbabwe.
In a statement yesterday, Econet said the platform, which has been under construction in the last nine months, would allow Zimbabweans living in South Africa who use Econet Wireless South Africa Call Home SIM cards, to load money in their cellphones and send it instantly to an Econet number.
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The recipients in Zimbabwe will then be able to cash the money at any EcoCash agent, according to Econet Services’ chief executive officer Darlington Mandivenga. Econet, he said, was currently working on a soft launch of the new service with its partners in South Africa in selected areas.
The launch has been scheduled for next month.
“Once the money arrives on a cellphone in Zimbabwe, the beneficiary can cash out using any of the nearly 7 000 EcoCash agents countrywide,” Mandivenga said.
