Financial Conference Discussion: Banks, Fintech Companies, and Regulatory Bodies Aligning for Improvement in Digital Payment Systems
At the Zimswitch Digital Connect Symposium, three working groups - Pungwe, Nyangani, and Mutarazi - discussed ways to enhance digital payments in Zimbabwe.
The Pungwe Group suggested enforcing merchant discount rules to make digital acceptance cheaper and building digital value chains in key sectors such as transport, real estate, cross-border trade, fuel, and gold purchases to reduce the use of cash. They also proposed building a real-time settlement system to boost trust in electronic payments and improving collaboration between mobile network operators and POTRAZ to lower data costs and improve accessibility. However, the Pungwe Group did not propose solutions for the issues of cash evading tax, cultural preferences for cash, policy inconsistencies, and exchange control regulations.
The Nyangani Group identified several challenges hindering digital payments adoption, including IMTT as a barrier for higher-value transactions, lack of policy alignment, ambiguity in policy pronouncements, weak enforcement of existing policies, and a call for better collaboration between government and industry. On the positive side, they highlighted IMTT exemptions for transactions below US$5, POS adoption by informal businesses, RBZ support for digital platform usage, cash withdrawal limits encouraging electronic transactions, interoperability directives, fintech innovation sandboxes, data protection frameworks, and financial literacy campaigns.
The Mutarazi Group focused on quick-impact solutions for the digital economy. They proposed enhancing collaboration between banks, fintechs, and merchants by developing integrated payment solutions and shared infrastructure to improve efficiency and reduce costs. A notable solution from the Mutarazi Group is a Zimswitch-led e-tag/ZINARA card for simplifying toll payments and integrating transport into the digital ecosystem. They also advocated for a centralized innovation approach to reduce duplication of effort and emphasized the need for shared infrastructure across banks, fintechs, and merchants.
The discussion also covered the policy environment and its impact on digital payments adoption, with the Nyangani Group leading the conversation. They emphasized the need for clear and consistent communication of policies to reduce confusion.
Participants were divided into three working groups: Mutarazi, Nyangani, and Pungwe, each focusing on different aspects of digital payments. The Action Design Lab facilitated the discussions, bringing together banks, fintechs, regulators, and payments players.
The symposium aimed to provide a platform for stakeholders to share ideas and collaborate on solutions to enhance digital payments in Zimbabwe, with a focus on reducing cash usage and improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of digital transactions. The outcomes of the discussions will be presented to relevant authorities for further action.
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