HomeOld_PostsZymPay woos Diaspora...eliminates middlemen in transactions

ZymPay woos Diaspora…eliminates middlemen in transactions

Published on

AS she travelled back home just before Christmas from the UK where she had been staying for over 20 years, Trephine Moyo could see herself living in her big house with several rooms upstairs, in an affluent suburb.
After all, she had spent over US$75 000 building the house with the help of a close relative.
The relative had been sending photographs and updates on the house from foundation to ceiling levels and right up to when the roof was all complete.
But when she got to Zimbabwe, she got the shock of her life.
After three years of sending money to her relative, all she found was a foundation.
There was no house.
The photos of the house the relative had been sending belonged to her neighbour.
Trephine’s story of misfortune is one of many similar stories from the Diaspora — the story of people who have been fleeced by relatives back home after they squandered monies intended for housing construction and other developmental projects.
Most Zimbabweans living abroad no longer trust their relatives back home.
A London-based crossborder bill payment business, ZymPay, has come as a timely solution to this problem faced by those in the Diaspora.
ZymPay has emerged as a topnotch service for those wishing to invest home.
ZymPay has entered into strategic partnership with financial institutions in Zimbabwe to facilitate payment of goods and services, with the latest being the ZB Bank.
The company enables people in the Diaspora to directly pay for services in Africa, like insurance and mortgage premiums, electricity, groceries, and school fees.
Therefore, the partnership gives birth to a new and cheaper way of paying for education, health, bills and groceries for those in the Diaspora.
The service removes local transactional fees by eliminating the ‘middlemen’ in the equation.
Speaking at a press conference on the partnership between ZB bank and ZimPay, CEO and chairman of ZymPay Dakshesh Patel said:
“This partnership will offer our schools, universities and colleges a secure digital payment solution that ensures that fees are paid on time, directly into the ZB account with all reference details available.
“The solution, as I have noted before, offers peace of mind to the sender as it eliminates the middleman in the process and affords the sender further value through the seven percent incentive from the RBZ.”
The company not only provides the ZESA bill payment service but a variety of other payment services like travel payments and funeral subscription premiums.
The company has partnered life assurance companies to carter for the Zimbabwean market in the Diaspora.
Zimbabweans in the Diaspora can now pay funeral plan premiums online through a Diaspora funeral cash plan.
The London-based company also gives a platform to order foreign currency and travel money.
Customers simply need to select the currencies they would like and specify the amount in currency.
To pay by card, the customer must use verified Visa or MasterCard secure details while individuals can also pay through the bank.
This service removes the need for expensive money transfer by people in the Diaspora to their home countries and reduces significantly the customer acquisition and service costs for insurance and investment management groups. And sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive region in the world to send money home.
However, in Zimbabwe, remittances are now the second largest source of liquidity (more than tobacco exports) in the country, after mineral exports.
For the past three years, remittances from Zimbabweans living abroad have been averaging US$1 billion.
This figure only accounts for funds sent home through official banking channels and, as such, the figure may be less than 70 percent of the actual remittances into our nation as some funds are moved via traditional channels.
The RBZ added a sweetener and gives a 10 percent incentive for all funds remitted back home in a bid to increase cash inflow.
It is estimated there is in excess of three million Zimbabweans in the Diaspora and their remittances constitute 30 percent of foreign currency receipts.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest articles

Musician pens seven books

By Fidelis Manyange CHITUNGWIZA-based musician, known in music circles as Gaban Kufemamoto Chebani Chedondo Chegwenzi...

A successful first quarter

THE first quarter of the year is done. As a people, we have not been...

FOZEU’s call for strike…an attempt at provoking anarchy

By Elizabeth Sitotombe IN an attempt to sow anarch across the country by calling for...

Chitepo’s fight for land

This story was first published on 21/03/2016 By Patience Rusare LAND ranked highest among the grievances...

More like this

Musician pens seven books

By Fidelis Manyange CHITUNGWIZA-based musician, known in music circles as Gaban Kufemamoto Chebani Chedondo Chegwenzi...

A successful first quarter

THE first quarter of the year is done. As a people, we have not been...

FOZEU’s call for strike…an attempt at provoking anarchy

By Elizabeth Sitotombe IN an attempt to sow anarch across the country by calling for...

Discover more from Celebrating Being Zimbabwean

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading