Econet, association head for clash Econet Wireless

econet_19 decEnia Nyakudzambara  Business Reporter
The Mobile Money Transfer Agents Association of Zimbabwe and Econet are heading for a possible clash over the latter’s recent directive that each of its agent should register at least five new customers per day as per their contract. The association, however, advised its members yesterday to disregard the directive as it had been superseded by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe ruling last month that there is no mobile service company that should have exclusive contracts with agents.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe ruled that mobile money agencies are permitted to offer services to multiple payment system providers. Econet Zimbabwe sent messages to all its EcoCash agents informing them of the requirement.

“We would like to inform all members and concerned agents that the requirement by Econet is ill advised since mobile money business has become highly saturated for the said provider such that it is very difficult to sign on new customers.

“This is because section 3.4 of the agent contract they are referring to in the SMS broadcast is based on the exclusive basis contracts they made agents sign way back,” the association’s co-ordinator Mr Francis Chinjekure said in a statement.

He added that even registering one customer per day was now very difficult considering there were more than 8 000 agents countrywide.
Mr Chinjekure said the biggest concern is that there is no “real incentive” for agents to register new customers.

“Lack of an incentive shows that EcoCash is taking agents for granted. Such an issue should be encouraged and stimulated by a financial benefit, such that those who would want to pursue the financial benefit for new customer registrations will do so willingly,” he said.

He said Econet is keen to keep the cost of acquiring a new customer low and as such wants to reward the agents after the customer spends.
Apparently Econet has moved away from the original arrangement of paying $1 to agents for each new customer.

Instead it is now paying an agent $1 after a new customer signed by that particular agent effects a transaction of at least $10.

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