The days past (and even now) Ecocash has been such a huge letdown. Of course, there have always been innumerable complaints about the Ecocash service for a while now. However, ever since their so-called upgrade, it has literally shifted from bad to worse. I am one of the many victims who have lost their money due to system-related issues on the Ecocash platform. Ecocash enjoys unhealthy though deserved market dominance and I believe it is high time other players step up to the plate to water down that dominance. One Money (under NetOne) is the second-largest mobile money service provider in the country with roughly about a 5% mobile money market share. Owing to the dismal performance of the Ecocash platform lately, One Money has embarked on a bold #CrossOverToNetOne campaign.
Transact At Zero Charge Using One Money (Plus More)
This is One Money’s latest strategy that they are using to lure people to subscribe for One Money. So be it you are paying for good and services or sending money – there will no transaction charges. This is going to be valid until the end of this year. That is all in motion now with the exception of the Intermediated Money Transfer Tax (IMTT) (i.e. the infamous 2% tax) of course. That is not all; if you buy airtime using One Money, 50% will be discounted on the amount. Plus if you fund your wallet with ZWL$500 you will be entitled to free data (1 GB). So that is what One Money is offering which in essence is amazing convenience. If you are not already registered for One Money you simply need a copy of your National ID when you visit your nearest NetOne shop or a One Money Agent.
An Analysis Of One Money’s Latest Campaigns
One thing is for sure, we need formidable alternatives to the Ecocash platform. There is nothing as annoying as having money in your mobile wallet and you either cannot use it or are hesitant to use it because of possibly losing money through incomplete transactions. That has been the experience for most Ecocash users in the past 2 weeks or so. One of the major reasons why people have been dealt a heavy blow is because of the lack of a formidable alternative. Why am I saying all this? I am saying this to buttress my conviction that what One Money is doing is most welcome – we need alternatives.
Earlier I highlighted that One Money has a paltry stake of around 5% of the mobile money market. That basically means that it is still quite far from catching up because Ecocash’s mobile money market dominance stands at around 94.7% or so. However, that is not a valid basis to downplay what One Money is doing – in fact; it is the very reason why they should drive their subscriber base upwards. Some people have been sceptical saying that One Money does not have the capacity to manage huge subscriber bases but that is not really substantial as this point.
Rather, the key insight to draw from that is that One Money has lots of work to do to make One Money widespread. I have been registered on One Money for over a year now and have never had a need for it. Why? It is because I do not have a significant network of possible recipients. Plus most goods and service providers do not yet accept or do One Money transactions. The moment that network or circle grows it becomes automatic for me to use One Money. Thus, One Money has to work really hard to achieve that because that is key to widespread adoption.
For what it is worth I think NetOne currently offers good services; its network is mostly good. I am not sure if that will remain the same as its subscriber base grows because I somehow think that is one of the reasons the Econet services, in general, have been riddled with challenges. For instance, Econet has over 11 million subscribers and probably their system is now overwhelmed. I am sure you can recall that during the early years of Ecocash, transactions were generally smooth and complaints were almost non-existent. Many of you can concur that for years you never even knew where an Econet shop was located because you never needed to go there. What I am driving at here is that smooth service provision can be guaranteed when subscriber bases are still low (something that can change as the bases surge). This presents a challenge for One Money to use the Ecocash experience as a learning reference so that they are better prepared for the future. They must never find themselves in the same situation ever!
The ball is in One Money’s court really because they stand a good chance to become a formidable competitor to Ecocash. Always make the best out of a crisis – One Money is doing just that and it is normal in business. I would, however, urge One Money to take its marketing drives up some notches more because some people are not even aware of One Money and its latest amazing special offers.
