Malawi Post Corporation to roll out Mobile Money Wallet dubbed ZapCash

The outlook for Financial Inclusion in Malawi continues to improve with Malawi Post Corporation (MPC) scheduled to launch Mobile Money Wallet dubbed ZapCash transaction service later in the year.

MPC Post Master General, Henry Shamu disclosed the development in Blantyre on Wednesday when the Minister of Information, Civic Education and Communications Technology, Mark Botomani toured the institution.

Shamu said preparations to roll out the service have reached an advanced stage with the installation of software already done.

“The Zaphweka Cash Service (ZapCash) will allow people to cash in or cash out money through their phones via agents that will be deployed countrywide. It is part of social inclusion dimension that government is encouraging.

“What is left now is that we are waiting for Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) to give us consent so that the service can roll out.

“MPC is planning to reach many people with the service so that Malawians can benefit,” said Shamu.

The coming in of ZapCash is a signal that mobile money service is maturing in Malawi with Airtel Money and Mpamba already dominating the market.

Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development came up with the 2016 – 2020 Strategy for Financial Inclusion which, among other things, encourages operators to reach more people with financial services considering that the country has a lot of people who are not yet reached with financial services.

The strategy highlights what can be done to ensure that all Malawians, regardless of their geographical disposition, are reached with financial services.

Though Government of Malawi recognizes that a more inclusive financial system is critical to the development of the country’s economy, a study by the Economics Association of Malawi (ECAMA) published in December, 2018 on the state of mobile financial services usage found that many Malawians use the service for sharing mobile phone credit than actual utilisation on financial services.

It found out that ‘me-to-you’ services of airtime sharing accounted for 53 per cent while 37 per cent used the service for buying airtime, four per cent used the service to send money, three percent used it for receiving money, two per cent used it for paying bills and one per cent used it for unspecified services.

Malawi is considered a predominantly cash-based society to the extent that 75 per cent of the cash in the economy is outside the banking system leaving only 25 per cent in the banking system.

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