CABS, POSB to use Telecel mobile banking platform through Zimswitch Mobile

By Staff Writer
March 24th, 2011

Telecel Skwama Telecel Zimbabwe has just revealed to Techzim that it’s working with Zimswitch Mobile to include more banks on its mobile banking platform.

Telecel launched the Skwama mobile banking services in January this year but only provided the service to subscribers banking with Zimbabwe’s Kingdom Bank.

Telecel has revealed that through partnership with Zimswitch Mobile, banks willing to extend mobile banking services to the clients can now do so as soon as they have concluded agreements with Zimswitch Mobile. Telecel says currently, “more banking institutions, including POSB and CABS, are concluding tests on this platform”

The Telecel spokesperson we communicated with commented that “bank[s] will automatically benefit from the already existing system that Zimswitch has operated for a long time, which is trusted by the public.” Zimswitch is a third party transaction processing platform used by most Zimbabwean commercial banks.

Telecel Zimbabwe is the second largest mobile operator in the country by subscriber numbers. The largest is Econet Wireless Zimbabwe. NetOne, the state owned mobile operator is the smallest. NetOne also introduced a mobile banking service called OneWallet in January this year.

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Tafmak3000
SKWAMA????? who comes up with such names??? UGLY NAME!!! translating something from English into Shona or Ndebele doesn’t make it endearing (in MY opinion!!!)
So what? Is it just Skwama or A Skwama or maybe The Skwama?
“Hey John i’ve just Skwamerd some money into Your account????”
or maybe
“Hey John i’ve just put some money into your Skwama????”
or could it be
“Hey John I’ve just Skwamad you the money”
Shame (none Shona/Ndebele speaking) white falks will probrably have a hard time with this one. Maybe the’ll call it The I-SKA-WA-MA! or just the ISK!
Imagine if Google was called ГooГЛЁ how would you pronounce It????
Besides that though I am looking forward to the/a Iskawama!!!.
GO ISKAWAMA GO!!!
Tafmak3000
Ok maybe Skwama isn’t that bad compared to Google UMBONO!!!!????. That sounds like a really vulgar African swear word! Why do none African companies always assume that for Africans to accept their product they should first call it BANJAWOONGO! or something weird like that?
This is messed up. UMBONO This!!!
MD
Tafmak3000, what ever you are on, I would like some!
Absolutely hillarious and fruity take on on the names. You have noticed right about funky Africa names trending in the mobile space…MPesa, Ayoba, Skwama, MKesho, 8ta! and oh yes and this Umbono, google inspired hot name too.
I can now get away with this one….Umbono yako! You can only reply by saying “ëhe ndakaipiwa naGoogle”
serg11
i have a really foul mind and Umbono is not helping my therapy!!! i can easily interchange that word with a dozen other Unastiness. Umbono Umbiti..Umbono Umbo#$…i cud go on and on!!! Google, i give u the Uthumbs Udown for this one!!!
Umbono yenyu vafana
Skwat
interesting,never thought of it that way but you guys are right,wats wit the funky names?
Anonymous
Don’t see how Skwama is a bad name. Mpesa, 8ta, Mkesho are all great names for products. In fact there many Shona, Ndebele words that can make great brand names!
if the product is Zimbabweans, the bulk of whom are Shonas & Ndebeles, why not make it easily identifiable with them. For locals, Skwama is way easier on the tongue than words like Microsoft or Yahoo
Tafmak3000
The thing I’m sure you’ll also notice about Africans is although we live HERE we want to be THERE(in America), So many Zimbos especially the Sala/Wanabe types want things that sound international and foreign. It’s very sad but true!
Which internet Cafe do you think many Zimbos would rather be seen in “Quick & Easy” or “Nyore Nyore Chopaz”.
Even with 8ta! I think they call it “8″ta not Eitha? so that its easy to pronounce.
Chaynani
Once you embrace ethic diversity, all your reservations will disapear. Ever heard of Ushahidi? Its on fire in the emergency/rescue space. There is generally a fair amount of demand for ethnic content on the web. so these are responses to a genuine demand. Then again, one man’s meat is another’s poison, or something like that. long live skwama!
tinm@n
you have a serious complex towards local branding. there’s everything good about something locally identifiable. local product for local people using our language(s). as long as it can be pronounced and it makes sense to the target audience, then it has achieved its intended purpose.
and why subscribe to whats “sad but true”?!
tinm@n
rather shallow. y should they have to subscribe to what you feel should be something else. there is no single word that even you can conjure that would be universally accepted as ideal. the words Google, Yahoo are quite foreign to us, but we embrace the products.
FYI Umbono means opinion, idea or vision in isiNdebele/Zulu
http://rustygate.org Joe Black
Ubuntum anyone?
Lhama
Skwama its great name. just need to market it and make its presence felt
Kurai
hilarious thread
Tanyamandeg7
what about Tawanda Nyambirai Bank (TN Bank)???!! its not about the name but how its marketed
Tafmak3000
It’s interesting to observe how you prefer calling yourself tinMAN here instead of Tinashe or Tinotenda! do you have a ‘serious’ complex towards authentic local names? Moving on…
Local branding and BAD branding don’t have to be the same thing. In my 1st comment I said Skwama is a bad brand, not because it’s local but because in my opinion it’s not sensible as a brand name, Imbwa Nyoro Mud’ra Telecommunications is a local brand, granted!!! BUT IT’S A BAD BRAND!!!
Skwama in my opinion is a bad brand because it is confined to the few dialects that can pronounce itI doubt that any sensible Co. would limit the scope and growth potential like that.
Secondly the implications of “Skwama” fall outside it’s scope that is to say it insinuates something that it it is not thus misleading/discouraging the client! Brands should suggest sm’ng by their sounds alone! Nexum and Xerox etc both sound like a IT/Tech brand before you even found out what they do!
(…….Skwama! what do you think??)
This is a banking service not a Sneaker, if you don’t know what Skwama means (which a lot of internationals none Shonas/Ndebeles who use Zim banking services everyday don’t by the way) you will not associate it with a trusted reputable banking service for your money or banking at all. Remember that Skwama is eventually going to compete with the likes of Pay Pal and E-Buks e.t.c)
Tafmak3000
It’s interesting to observe how you prefer calling yourself tinMAN here instead of Tinashe or Tinotenda! do you have a ‘serious’ complex towards authentic local names? Moving on…
Local branding and BAD branding don’t have to be the same thing. In my 1st comment I said Skwama is a bad brand, not because it’s local but because in my opinion it’s not sensible as a brand name, Imbwa Nyoro Mud’ra Telecommunications is a local brand, granted!!! BUT IT’S A BAD BRAND!!!
Skwama in my opinion is a bad brand because it is confined to the few dialects that can pronounce itI doubt that any sensible Co. would limit the scope and growth potential like that.
Secondly the implications of “Skwama” fall outside it’s scope that is to say it insinuates something that it it is not thus misleading/discouraging the client! Brands should suggest sm’ng by their sounds alone! Nexum and Xerox etc both sound like a IT/Tech brand before you even found out what they do!
(…….Skwama! what do you think??)
This is a banking service not a Sneaker, if you don’t know what Skwama means (which a lot of internationals none Shonas/Ndebeles who use Zim banking services everyday don’t by the way) you will not associate it with a trusted reputable banking service for your money or banking at all. Remember that Skwama is eventually going to compete with the likes of Pay Pal and E-Buks e.t.c)
Tafmak3000
“Kukura Kurerwa” now “KK”.
“Masiiwa Communications” Now Mascom after expanding to Botswana.
“Taisekwa Engineering” now Taisek Engineering after expanding to the Harare Show Grounds.
You people can pull all these philosophies out of your asses but Skwama will be rebranded soon! My prediction is that this brand will not exists in it’s current form six years from now! you can Quote me!
Tafmak3000
It is registered and operates as “TN Bank” not “Tawanda Nyambirai Bank”.
The owner is Tawanda Nyambirai though we obviously can’t re-brand him!
Tafmak3000
Hey at the end of the day, if you do it well you can market anything it and make its presence felt!
Marketing companies have been selling ice to Eskimos for years!
( Skwama = “BAD BRAND” )
Tafmak3000
C’mon lets be treasonable, even if you call water “Poison” or “Don’t Drink This” people will still wan’t it, its a need! Emergency Rescue services are different from Cellphone or Banking services, people have less choices there! MARS is not Popular because it’s called MARS and it has nice colours and nice sounding sirens, it’s popular because it gets you to the hospital QUICK!
Think about it though! Local products that are famous in Zim have catchy (often none Shona/Ndebele) names unless of-cause you’re talking about the famous “Chi” trio of Chibuku, Chibataura & Chimombe.
Diversity has nothing to do with BAD branding! I said I hate the brand not the people or the cultures of the people who made them! I’m also not saying the brand must not be Shona/Nbele for me to like it, it just has to be good and well thought!
For South Africa the Umbono Brand works well because they get it within South AFrica. Across the borders though it may be different. A lot of people (i know) who don’t know what Umbono means honestly believe it’s a rude word! Google is an international brand as such it should be more sensitive when it plays around with foreign languages. One word that means something nice here can suggest something different else where! One man’s meat is another’s poison, or something like that.
Im starting the Let’s REBRAND Skwama Blog soon, you’re invited!!!
Tafmak3000
Well I am the potential customer aren’t I? What I feel about a brand is ALL that matters to the people that make it, IT’S ALL ABOUT ME the customer. If as a customer I don’t like something about a brand they better put they’re jumping shoes on because jumping is all they’ll be doing until i’m happy!!!!.
Money isn’t going to just jump out of my pocket into their hands. To answer your question Tinm@n they should subscribe to my EVERY feeling and NEED because they want my attention and money!
Secondly you said “there is no single word that even you(me) can conjure that would be universally accepted as ideal” then you mentioned Google and Yahoo don’t you think that you contradicted, questioned and answered yourself within the space of two lines?
Google is an example, Is Google English? NO! Do you and I know what it means? NO! All that matters is it’s catchy and easy for EVERYONE to say, if it was Shona/Ndebele that would even be SUPER!!!!
A brand is not made solely/simply by it’s name or meaning (like Google has proven) Isn’t that the ethnic diversity that someone mentioned elsewhere in these coments (@Chaynani hint hint).
Right now Hyundai having a hard time (and paying a lot) making people aware that “Hyundai” is pronounced just like “Sunday”
Skwama is NEXT! imagine the Ad
“Skwama” pronounced just like “Wanna… with a scar”
FYI Umbono insinuates something completely different in other languages.
Tafmak3000
“Googol” is the mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros.
Google’s play on the term reflects the company’s mission to organize the immense amount of information available on the web.”
Thus….
Goooooooooo,oooooooooo,oooooooooo,oooooooooo,oooooooooo,
oooooooooo,oooooooooo,oooooooooo,oooooooooo,ooooooooooGle.
Source=http://www.quickonlinetips.com/
Yvee
Dude! For starters “Translating English into Shona/Ndebele” makes it seem like everything is in English by default which is absolute trash. Anyone can decide to name anything in a local language and it doesn’t mean they are translating it from English. If I name my kid Tatenda for example, does it mean I’m translating it from the English word “thanks”?
On another note, being a lay man, a brand like Skwama makes me think along monetary lines..its close to chikwama, unlike Nexum or Xerox which I have no idea kuti zvinorevei. I just conducted a brief survey in my office..asking each person what they think of when they hear the words skwama Nexum or Xerox what do they think of. All said Skwama made them think of a wallet or money and noone knew what Xerox or Nexum is or what to associate it with. Actually the dictionary says this about Nexum: “Nexum was a debt bondage contract in the early Roman Republic. The debtor pledged his person as collateral should he default on his loan. Nexum was abolished by the Lex Poetelia Papiria in 326 BC.” and you say it’s got something to do with IT/Tech!
I think Skwama is a relevant and good brand name and its popularity will depend on its success. Nokia amongst many other brand names, is not an English word and suggests nothing about telecoms but look at how big and successful it is. Pamberi ne the Skwama brand!
http://www.facebook.com/mknduna Mk Nduna
Great moves forward I think. What we would like to see in Zimbabwe is an online payment processing platform that will allow the opportunity for e-commerce to actually grow. At the moment, there isn’t such a solution that allows local websites to integrate for a fully automated payment process. To achieve this would need all major banks being flexible and allowing this to happen (not sure on regulatory authorities). We need a payment gateway.
Tafmak3000
Fair!
Zimbo
Kazhinji povo inoda kuita musindo pazvinhu zvaisingagoni. Pano pane wakambo ita brendhi yakabudirira here? Ini hangu ndirikuzama………
Christine
This is very funny the Iskawama or whatever…..personnally, I think its innovation at its best but yest it cuts out the non shona/ndebele
But think about it….what of U Tube, Twitter, i tube and the like…
Seriously what is this world coming to..
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Rusbootred
uyo anonzi tafmak3000 anenge akadzidza critic in college, u go man, keep criticizing, if u do enough posts u jus might land a post as H-Metro editor…………….. , or something.
Cocoshumba
Skwama in my view is just perfect. Ask many Zimbos and they will tell you Skwama is a wallet. Does it become bad because it is branded in an indigenous name. Anyway I am not surprised with your way of thinking. You are filled with self hate. You hate your languages your traditional ways, your women hate their hair they want it curly like Europeans and even put other peoples hair in their heads and brag about it as if its something good “This is 100% human hair”. Shame on the foolish African, here we are in the 21st century he/she is still blind never trying to open their eyes to see.

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