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Michael Tome
The country’s oldest mobile phone network provider, NetOne, says it will be extending the zero-tariff transaction charges to subscribers of  its mobile money platform, One Money, as the firm angles to grow its market share.

NetOne says it extended the zero-tariff promotion on One Money, as a means of cushioning the transacting public to pay school fees, make payments, send and receive money.

The initiative, which is being promoted at the height of the festive season, will continue through the first quarter of 2020 in March.

The company has been on an aggressive trajectory and intends to extend the initiative much more into 2020 as it is resolutely working on growing its subscriber base and market share.

NetOne’s move comes on the backdrop of the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ)’s third quarter report for 2019, that saw One Money growing by 27 percent from 335,132 active mobile subscriptions to 428,529.

Subsequently, its active mobile subscriptions grew by 10,6 percent from 2 752,458 to 3 042,930 signifying a total gain of 1,4 percent of the market share in Zimbabwe.

The gain represented the overall growth in active mobile subscriptions and was mainly attributable to One Money.

Adoption of mobile money has been continuously improving as an alternative to making payments given the cash shortages the country is facing.

NetOne chief executive officer Lazarus Muchenje, says his company aims to improve accessibility of NetOne’s products and services, whilst promoting employment creation in the country.

“As NetOne, we have spent the year 2019 focusing on enhanced service provision through a stable quality network and a robust distribution channel, which includes 36 NetOne shops, 1000 franchise shops and over 5 000 Agents, who are equipped to register and activate all NetOne lines and One Money accounts.

“We will continue with our mission to transform and develop lives through communication solutions, as we complement government efforts towards Vision 2030 – an upper middle class economy,” he said.

One Money offers a host of payment solutions that include short-term loans (Tsaona), agent lines, merchant codes, card-less merchant purchases, biller codes and is availability on the ZimSwitch platform (Zip-It).

The State-owned mobile telecommunications firm, NetOne, recorded a US$10,2 million profit for the year ended December 31, 2018, a massive turnaround from a US$77 million loss position previously.

The growth in mobile data usage for NetOne was buoyed by the company’s move to optimise its network across the country.

Earlier this year it also revealed its plans to, step in and offer a salary and bulk payments solution after a dispute between local banks and a Mauritian firm, Payserv Africa.