The Chronicle
Business Reporter
ECOCASH has introduced ‘EcoCash Bill Manager’, a new service that brings enhanced convenience for users and simplifies how customers manage their bill payments to different service providers, directly from their phones.
The new feature allows customers to make real-time, multicurrency (ZWL or USD) bill payments and allow for automatic monthly bill payments, said the company.
The latest development enables express payments, a service that allows customers to save regular service provider billing details, allow customers to quickly buy airtime and data bundles, and also features an option for customers to check their account balances.
“Our customers will now be able to make real-time payments and get instant updates on the status of their accounts,” said EcoCash chief operating officer, Mr Munyaradzi Nhamo, as he announced the new service Thursday.
“They will also be able to set recurring bill payments for auto-collection by the service or utility providers, straight from their mobile wallets, on a monthly basis.
“All they will need to do is authorize the payment; EcoCash Bill Manager will automatically fetch the bill from the service provider, and present it to the customer for payment authorization.”
Mr Nhamo said that customers, in their busy schedules, will now never miss a payment because EcoCash Bill Manager will remind them.
“EcoCash Bill Manager puts the power into the customer’s hands. They will have the convenience and flexibility to make one-time payments, or to automatically schedule mandates for recurring payments to their utility or service provider,” he said.
EcoCash, the country’s leading mobile money platform, is a subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed EcoCash Holdings Zimbabwe Limited – a diversified fintech and digital solutions group.
Mr Nhamo said for service providers, the EcoCash Bill Manager is set to ease the operational hassles of bill collections and their attendant cost overheads.
“We are excited to be bringing to our partner ecosystem a functionality that will significantly improve their clients’ payments user experience, while improving their collections,” he said.
EcoCash has over the past decade been at forefront of driving financial inclusion by simplifying the user experience and by broadening access to financial services in a country where more than 60 percent of the adult population had no bank accounts.
The company said customers that use the EcoCash Bill Manager online will get an instant email notification, with proof of payment, once they pay their bills. They will also be able to access and download EcoCash statements on demand.
Some of the billers on the EcoCash Bill Manager include ZESA prepaid tokens, Harare City Council, Edgars, ZINWA prepaid tokens, Liquid Home, First Mutual Health, Jet Store, Bulawayo City Council, Econet post-paid, PowerLive, Celfre Energy, CIMAS, Doves, Nyaradzo, Fidelity Life Assurance and FBC Microplan Services, among others.
Mr Nhamo said more billers will be coming on stream, adding that customers can save their ‘Favourites’ for quick and easy access.
EcoCash recently unveiled ‘Request Money’, a convenient service that allows EcoCash users to ask for money from friends or family on the EcoCash platform. It also recently partnered PayPay through its global remittance network, to allow Zimbabweans in the diaspora to send funds directly to the EcoCash USD wallet of their friends and family back home.
Article Source: The Chronicle