Zimbabwe’s deteriorating economic situation is forcing authorities to sign off on some desperate and controversial decisions. Some of such decisions include the abrupt suspension mobile money as well as the recent designation of Zimswitch as a national payment switch.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Suspends Mobile Money Service
Owned by banks, Zimswitch is the current payments switch to the same financial institutions. This designation has been made to, ostensibly, enable interoperability between financial services providers.
In a notice to the public Thursday, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) says all financial services providers including mobile money operators (MMO) must connect to this national payment switch.
The country’s largest MMO, Ecocash appears to be the target of this move by RBZ. Over the years, Ecocash has routinely been accused of frustrating efforts to enable interoperability between MMOs among a slew of charges.
