NetOne’s OneMoney Running under East African Giant M-Pesa Mobile System

NetOne’s OneMoney new technology partner is the one responsible for the success of Kenya’s ‘mighty’ M-Pesa mobile money platform under Safaricom, that country’s leading mobile network operator.

The re-branding of NetOne’s OneWallet to OneMoney also witnessed the mobile money platform shifting from the old Gamalto system which had let them down in the first instance, to now running under the mighty M-Pesa replica system which has registered major success in the East African country, Kenya, as pioneers of mobile money. Kenya is the epicentre of the mobile money revolution and M-Pesa mobile system is a world-wide known and renowned system.

Making reference to the latest FY 2017 report Safaricom’s M-Pesa has over 20 million active customers (a figure far higher than Zimbabwe’s population which stood at 14,2 million, according to the 2013 population census results) , makes at least $614 million transactions per month and it is is often held up as an example of the transformative impact mobile money services can have on a country, hence, with such statistics, that may as well bring a bit of hope to NetOne’s OneMoney by using an M-Pesa replica system that is said to be the best on the market so far.

http://https://youtu.be/QYxzcRHAHcA

Going back to the issue of OneWallet, may be you did not know…well, not just you alone but many do not know. The truth is that over $6 million was invested on OneWallet, yet only to make revenue of $51 000. NetOne failed to make profits as means to return on major investment. That on its own will make you wonder if some greedy people within the government-owned entity exploited such a huge investment for their own personal use or may be the people who were responsible were totally clueless (but how clueless could these people have been) on how to run the mobile money solution, because seriously coming to think of it, surely doesn’t add up, it does not. That was embarrassing to say the least. Therefore, NetOne is hoping that OneMoney will at least save them face from the embarrassing OneWallet fiasco, by getting them back on map.

Were you also aware of the fact that OneMoney becomes the third attempt by NetOne after they initially launched the first ever mobile money service in Zimbabwe in 2011? Yes, it’s first launch was in 2011, the second in 2013, now we have OneMoney in 2017. This time around on its third attempt, OneWallet relaunch has cost them more than $2 million, and that included equipment and its customisation, as well as rolling it out. Therefore, it remains to be seen how their new platform will impact the market, but one thing for certain is that NetOne needs to dissent from such kind of history of not making profits as they fail to return on major investment like on previous encounters. Stop it! {you certainly know whom}

Also speaking during the launch of NetOne’s new product, OneMoney, the Minister of ICT Postal and Courier Services, Hon Supa Mandiwanzira did not mince his words, ‘OneMoney Must Now Show Us The Money’. Indeed, he challenged NetOne and the new product OneMoney to start making profits and at least declare dividends so that the mobile network claims its true market share position. OneMoney hopes to retain a foothold in the mobile money market that is heavily dominated by Econet owned EcoCash which wallows a mega 98% market share. EcoCash’s rivals (Telecel Zimbabwe owned Telecash and NetOne owned One Wallet now OneMoney) have a combined market share of less than two percent in the mobile payments segment.

OneMoney comes at a very crucial point in time when back in August the Minister of ICT Supa Mandiwanzira spoke at a mobile payments conference held in Harare  where he expressed his unease at the fact that EcoCash controls at least 98 percent of the mobile money market. Mandiwanzira said that this was not good for the general public as this encouraged monopolistic behaviour.

Quoting the Minister of ICT Postal and Courier Services, Hon Supa Mandiwanzira, he said:

Ninety percent of the transactions are being controlled by one mobile network. That is a disaster.

It may be a commercial success but it’s a disaster if we look at it from a public sector point of view. What happens if that system fails at a critical moment? That means we have disrupted the entire nation because we have relied on one supplier.

We almost have a monopoly so they think they can do whatever they want. We have encouraged the regulator, Potraz to really deal with some of these monopolistic tendencies.

The launch of OneMoney gives Zimbabweans a choice on which mobile payment platform to use and this eradicates a monopoly like scenario at the same time brings about competition and the consumers are the winners. Competition is healthy in the digital ecosystem, because it drives innovation and forces companies to be customer centric.

Speaking at the launch of OneMoney, NetOne Acting Chief Executive Officer, Brian Mutandiro said:

“We are cognisant of the fact that millions of subscribers have migrated to our network and kept on holding other network provider lines because they could not efficiently do mobile transfers using our previous platform. One Money is finally here and indeed this is the most effective platform you can get. We have invested in a robust system, one of the best in the world that gives our customers convenience.”

Mutandiro also mentioned something very interesting that there were efforts to sabotage the launch of OneMoney. Well, I know you are keen on wanting to know whom were these saboteurs, guess what, you are not alone, same here, so please spare me on this one, because he did not mention names. OneMoney hoped to have been launched in June but there were some serious delays, which forced them not to launch.

What makes the new OneMoney service to have such warm market reception are the reasonable tariffs specifically designed to serve an economically distressed market. In his speech during the launch, acting NetOne CEO – Brian Mutandiro reiterated that the mobile money platform has been structured in line with the Ministry of Finance’s vision to drive total financial inclusion.

After closely watching the introduction of OneMoney in the past few days and how the product is causing a frenzy in the market, l think its only fair to give enough credit to Brian Mutandiro and his team for resurrecting a once sinking giant.

In Zimbabwe, mobile money services have emerged as an important hedge against the decline in revenue by telecoms companies.

Voice communications, the star revenue driver for mobile network operators has over the years registered a sharp decline due to the proliferation of over the top services like Viber, WhatsApp and Skype. Mobile money has since become a major contributor to the telecoms’ bottom lines. This good run experienced in mobile money services has been extended by the illiquid environment which has made cash alternatives like mobile money a viable solution for people in a cashless society.