AS ZIMBABWE’S state-owned mobile network operator NetOne says it is mulling upgrading its mobile money platform – OneMoney – by installing a new system, which the firm deems critical to consolidate the operator’s market share, the service was temporarily suspended by the country’s central bank for almost a month for alleged serious financial irregularities.
OneMoney wallet is a mobile payment service from Netone that allows one to send and receive money from a mobile phone at a low cost.
According to correspondence seen last week, a senior manager (name supplied) has since resigned after it was established that he was a key player in the fraudulent activities that might have seen NetOne creating ZiG 17 million artificial money prejudicing treasury.
Insiders at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe say the central bank flagged the mobile financial service (MFS) for three weeks after the irregularities. The systematic financial irregularities resulted in money supply which government has been addressing increasing by US$1,2 million when fictitious money was created.
The money is said to have benefited a ‘cabal’ within the organization (name supplied) and others from NetOne’s technical partners on this platform.
Other insiders close to the deliberations that led to the resignation of a senior manager at NetOne last month over the scandal at OneMoney say the “main actors” took advantage of a technical fault that arose and capitalized on it for their personal gains.
It is believed that failure to notice the disparities at selected defined periods when balancing and reconciling their financial books was intentional, in so doing “fighting” against the Ministry of Finance’s efforts to contain money supply and a thriving parallel market.
The suspension of the MFS negatively affected an estimated 60k civil servant who receive their salaries via OneMoney Payroll.
One Money is the arguably second largest mobile money platform in Zimbabwe after Econet Wireless’ EcoCash and has struggled to wrestle away significant market share from the industry’s dominant leader owing to several operational challenges. The platform is also facing competition from Innscors’ InnBucks.
Another State-controlled and struggling operator, Telecel’s Telecash is the industry’s smallest operator in third place.
Mobile money platforms have been instrumental in the financial inclusion drive enhancing financial access to underserved populations in the country, which has allowed more people to participate in the formal financial system and access basic financial services.
The platforms have also been integrated with other numerous facility platforms including for utility bill payments, airtime purchases, and online shopping, providing added convenience for users.
It remains to be seen which direction the MFS upgrades planned would take. Lately, the MNO has been channeling resources towards data and internet services provision as data traffic continues to dominate the firm’s revenue contribution compared to voice traffic.
