Online remittances service provider, World Remit has seen an increase in cash remittances to Zimbabwe. The company says that they have recorded 30% per month increases in cash transfers for pick up at CBZ locations alone.
Increase in traffic of remittances through World Remit can be attributed to a few things:
Opening of the South Africa corridor
World Remit recently started allowing people in South Africa to send money to Zimbabwe. This of course grew their addressable market significantly since the bulk of Zimbabwean diaspora is really South Africa. Besides South Africa, Zimbabweans in over 50 countries can send money back home through World Remit too.
Worsening economy
The volume of remittances could also have increased because of the worsening economic situation in Zimbabwe. Goods and services are generally not available in any consistent manner now. Essential services like healthcare are increasingly becoming only accessible to people with hard currency. This state of affairs could have resulted in folks outside the country needing to support family back home much more than before.
Widening cash pick up network
In the past six months, World Remit has more than doubled the number of cash pick up partners around the country. Their network exceeds 250 locations now which includes the 60 branches that CBZ has under its belt. World Remit claims this gives them the biggest cash pick up network compared to other international remittance providers in Zimbabwe.
Some of the most recent additions to their network are NetOne’s OneMoney and BancABC.
Problems with other remittance services
There have been reports of service providers like Western Union giving out bond notes and not the hard currency US dollars. This could be causing people to explore other options like World Remit.
Some of the World Remit partners particularly EcoCash and Steward Bank have been also not consistent in giving people their cash though. Looks like CBZ could be doing a better job there which could explain the increase through that channel as well.
Promotion
For customers sending money to Zimbabwe for the first time, World Remit is offering zero transaction fees. They simply have to use the promo code FREE to do so.
USD guarantee
World Remit is reaffirming that they will make USD cash available for their receiving customers. There has been talk about how it is becoming difficult to import currency into Zimbabwe. If World Remit lives up to this promise then they will definitely see more increases in customers who use their service.
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