津巴布韦能成为非洲第一个无现钞国家吗

    Econet子公司Econet Services承担拓展Econet微保险和微金融等非传统业务收入渠道的任务。这家子公司CEO达灵顿•曼迪万戈说：“EcoCash是针对战略挑战的战略性应对。当前电信行业发生的状况是，收入即便没有下降，也处于停滞不前，竞争和市场饱和等各种原因使得（用户平均收入）承受着压力。”

    为了帮助EcoCash成为津巴布韦零售交易的主导支付体系，Econet已经展开了积极的市场收购战。这家公司将80%的收入用于支付代理费用，牺牲短期利润率，以打造强大的专属网络。

    与此同时，这家公司还使用银行级别的技术与津巴布韦主要金融机构实现信息互通，从而降低了开展新型移动服务的难度。其中一项服务允许人们安全地存储积蓄，以备不时之需。如果不是因为这项服务，这部分人根本无法获得看银行服务。短短两周内，这项服务便新开了50万新账户，使得Econet子公司Steward Bank成为津巴布韦按开户数量计算最大的一家银行。

    “津巴布韦绝大部分人口没有银行账户，现金紧张，” 位于华盛顿的美国国际发展署（U.S. Agency for International Development，USAID）高级政策顾问凯瑟琳•迈克高文说。“企业和服务提供商不具备必要的市场环境，无法创建收费服务业务模式，也无法打造相应的金融产品来帮助穷人抵御可能遭受的灾难性财务冲击，比如农作物灾害等。”

    如果获得成功，津巴布韦的EcoCash是否将取代肯尼亚的M-Pesa成为世界无线金融服务的金牌获得者呢？M-Pesa早推出四年，肯尼亚三分之二的成人人口注册使用这项服务。目前还难以判断会不会出现这种情况。“EcoCash并不是全球通用的模式，而是津巴布韦所特有的模式，”曾在非洲为世界银行（World Bank）服务数年的金融和发展专家迈克尔•福斯说。“这是应对由于美元化造成的现金平衡需求的一种市场解决方案。”

    USAID的迈克高文也不认同。“完全取代现金是一个很高远的目标，”她说。“甚至像新加坡、马来西亚这样多年来一直把它作为国家策略实施的的国家也没能实现。”

    不论怎样，EcoCash必须继续打造人们对其数字支付体系的信心。“需要确保消费者通过电子方式存在他们手机中的钱真正可以流通，还能够保值，”布鲁金斯学会的钱迪说。“如果消费者心存疑惑，他们就会凭直觉重新选择实物现金。”（财富中文网）

    "EcoCash is a strategic response to a strategic challenge," says Darlington Mandivenga, CEO of Econet Services, a subsidiary tasked with expanding the company's nontraditional revenue streams, including microinsurance and microfinance. "What is happening in the telecoms industry is that revenues are stagnant, if not on the decline, with [average revenue per user] under pressure for various reasons such as competition and market saturation."

    To help EcoCash become Zimbabwe's dominant payment system for retail transactions, Econet has embarked on an aggressive merchant acquisition campaign. It is sacrificing short-term profitability by paying out 80% of revenue in agent commissions to build a strong and dedicated network.

    At the same time, the company is using bank-grade technology to fast-track interoperability with Zimbabwe's major financial institutions and make it easier to deploy new mobile services. One of those services is Ecosave, which allows otherwise "unbanked" people to safely put away money for emergencies. In two weeks, the tool prompted an influx of 500,000 new account openings, turning Econet subsidiary Steward Bank into the country's largest bank by number of accounts.

    "The vast majority of the population is unbanked and trapped in cash," says Kathleen McGowan, senior policy advisor with the Washington-based U.S. Agency for International Development. "Businesses and service providers were without the critical market infrastructure required to create fee-for-service business models and develop financial products designed to help the poor withstand potentially ruinous financial shocks such as crop destruction."

    If successful, could Zimbabwe's EcoCash overtake Kenya's M-Pesa -- which, with a four-year head start has signed up two-thirds of the adult population in that country -- as the world's gold standard for wireless financial services? It's unclear. "Rather than a universal model, EcoCash is specific to Zimbabwe," says Michael Fuchs, a finance and development specialist who spent years in Africa working for the World Bank. "It represents a market solution to managing demand for cash balances due to dollarization."

    USAID's McGowan was also unconvinced. "Fully replacing cash is highly aspirational," she says, "and hasn't been achieved even by countries like Singapore and Malaysia, which have pursued national strategies for several years."

    Nonetheless, EcoCash must continue to build confidence in its digital payment system. "Customers need to be assured that money stored on their phones electronically is truly liquid and will retain its value," says Brookings' Chandy. "If customers get spooked, they may intuitively run back to physical cash."