Brainworks unveils GetCash platform
Business Reporter
INVESTMENT holding group, Brainworks Capital, unveiled its enhanced and rebranded integrated mobile payment platform, GetCash, at colourful ceremony on Tuesday, declaring the platform will revolutionalise the payment system.Group chief executive, George Manyere said, while there has been a litany of payment options in the market, the country still lacked a system that could aggregate these and offer real convenience at a very affordable cost to users.
Payment solutions that existed prior to launch of GetCash, Mr Manyere said were isolated and fell short of combined functionalities that guaranteed economies of scale and at the same time stimulate economic activity and growth in Zimbabwe.
As such, he said they had looked at options that would bring about benefits to mobile networks, merchants and banks, in providing their range of products or services to customers. Transacting on GetCash will not attract any costs.
“So in the last couple of months, we started to challenge ourselves actively to say how can we come up with something that can bring all these initiatives or services under one roof for the convenience of consumers in a manner that will significantly impact our economy,” Mr Manyere said.
The highly convenient mobile-based payment system, rebranded from NetCash, will operate across all mobile phone networks and is already connected to all local banks.
Certainly, GetCash will pose unrivalled completion to Econet’s EcoCash, Telecel’s TeleCash and NetOne’s One Wallet.
GetCash launch was attended by several high profile guests, including three Cabinet Ministers (Patrick Chinamasa, Jonathan Moyo, Supa Mandiwanzira) and several bank and non-bank chief executives of local companies.
The platform enables users to pay bills for utilities, pay school fees, pay TelOne, buy airtime, pay merchants, pay for toll gate fees and access bank accounts, among other critical uses.
Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who attended the launch on Tuesday, urged banks to embrace the mobile payment system and flow with it rather than regard it as competition. He warned banks to take a reality check of their position.
Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said that since Government has built a sound financial system to drive the potential for economic growth, there is now need to shift focus to another critical phase of development, which is financial inclusion.
“The last FinScope survey showed 23 percent of Zimbabwe’s adult population was financially excluded. Only 30 percent made use of banking services while only 14 percent of MSME owners were banked, 43 percent did not use financial products or services and only 1 percent of the adult population has access to capital,” the minister said.
This is despite the fact that Zimbabwe has high literacy rates, the finance minister said, adding that “empirical evidence, meanwhile, indicates that across the world, financial exclusion is one of the biggest barriers to development.”
Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services Minister Supa Mandiwanzira said GetCash is an ICT driven payment system at the heart of his ministry’s mandate, which is in line with objectives of Zim-Asset.
“As you are well aware, under Zim-Asset, the objective is to expand the accessibility and utilisation of ICTs, to improve service delivery and accelerate economic growth,” he said.
He said ICT development is integral to rehabilitation of infrastructural assets and recovery of utility services in Zimbabwe and is one of key drivers for growth and employment creation in Zimbabwe as well as the acceleration of development through value addition processes.
He applauded Brainworks’ mobile payment platform saying it will play an important role in easing the cash crisis and also promote Government’s thrust on financial inclusion.
Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Minister Jonathan Moyo hailed the GetCash initiative, as an innovation that will bring convenience to users, create jobs, generate revenue for fiscus and improve livelihoods of people.
“The launch of GetCash product is a shining example of the success that can be achieved as a country when business, policy and academia collaborate to produce a systems solution that enables the ease of doing business,” he said.
“It is notable and gratifying that the cohort of the team behind the GetCash solution whose launch we are witnessing is made up of stemitised, young Zimbabweans software engineers from UZ, MSU and HIT,” the minister added.
Minister Moyo said this is evidence Zimbabwe’s institutions of higher learning are developing and training some of the best software engineers in the world.
“The innovation presents a new and viable technological solution which is as good as if not better than cash in an environment under the vagaries of cash shortages.”
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