Cassava Smartech and Comviva win Aite Group’s Digital Wallet Innovation Award for EcoCash

Aite Group, a global research and advisory firm, has recognized Cassava Smartech and Comviva as the winners of the 2019 Digital Wallet Innovation Award for EcoCash in the ‘Market Adoption’ category. The awards, announced at the Mobile Payment Conference in Chicago, recognize innovation achieved by digital wallet providers that are changing the way that commerce is done. Winners were selected by a global panel of five external experts on digital payments and wallets.

Launched in 2011, EcoCash is Zimbabwe’s largest mobile money service. EcoCash leverages mobile technology to extend digital financial services to the financially underserved consumers. EcoCash has over 9.8 million registered customers facilitating financial inclusion for 90% of Zimbabwe’s adult population.

It has digitized various financial transactions in Zimbabwe, ranging from domestic and international remittances and merchant payments, to savings and loans, thus creating a cash-light economy. Over 80% of the Zimbabwe’s National Payment Volume is processed through EcoCash, helping to mitigate an ongoing cash crisis.

Speaking on the win, Eddie Chibi, CEO Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe, said: “At Cassava Smartech our aim is to help people live better lives through the transformative power of mobile money. We shall spare no effort in driving mobile money services in Africa because we believe that mobile money can do more to improve lives in Africa than in any other part of the world. In line with this goal, we aim to continuously improve EcoCash services for a better tomorrow.”

Anil Krishnan, Head of Africa Region at Comviva, said: “We firmly believe that EcoCash services have been truly transformative as they provided the key to solving Zimbabwe’s cash problem while improving financial inclusion. We are very happy to receive this award as it validates our ability to make a difference with truly transformative solutions.”

Thad Peterson, senior analyst at Aite Group, said: “We are delighted to recognize and celebrate innovation achieved by leading digital wallet providers. Digital wallets are leading an explosion of innovation in the payment ecosystem, and it’s great to have an opportunity to recognize the leaders of this revolution.”

EcoCash mobile money service is offered by Cassava Smartech and powered by Comviva’s mobiquity® Money platform. mobiquity® Money is the world’s leading mobile money platform that delivers a host of digital financial services that transform the way consumers save, borrow, transfer and spend money. It is designed to seamlessly integrate consumer touch points with a wide ecosystem of banks, billers, merchants and third-party payment systems, creating a convergence powered by interoperability. Apart from delivering convenience to consumers, the solution enables telecommunications service providers to acquire new customers, create long-term loyalty with existing ones, and seize new revenue opportunities to increase their footprint in the market. mobiquity® Money empowers telecommunications service providers to be agile in their markets, with complete focus on the customers. mobiquity® Money has clocked over 60 deployments in more than 45 countries. It provides financial services to over 110 million consumers globally and processes more than 6.5 billion transactions amounting to over $130 billion annually.