ZIMBABWE
Can a cashless society save Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwe ' s banks are running out of cash and there ' s a sense of distrust, panic and frustration among locals.
Since the hyperinflation of 2009, Zimbabwe has depended largely on the U. S. dollar. But given the country ' s political and economic troubles and the introduction of " bond " notes, many have begun hoarding cash. The cash liquidity crunch is extreme.
Locals are forced to queue for hours outside banks for the chance to withdraw a maximum of $ 50 from their account each day-- and some are even being turned away simply because the banks don ' t have enough cash in their vaults. This country has nine currencies-- and formerly had a 100 trillion dollar bank note IHS economist, Alisa Strobel, told CNN the cash-flow crisis has been evolving for a few years and is fueled by low confidence in the country ' s banking sector.
" The rise of uncertainty over the impact of the introduction of bond notes... has led to fears by the population of a repetition of 2009 ' s hyperinflation." She says people are making " panic withdrawals " because of the fear that the country is running out of money and that retailers are unlikely to willingly accept payments in bond notes. President of the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe( BAZ), Charity Jinya, told CNN that banks are working on a solution to reduce the heavy reliance on cash. p +-Banks have streamlined daily cash withdrawals and continue to encourage wider use of electronic [ or ] digital payment platforms," she said. So perhaps now is the perfect opportunity, analysts argue, for Zimbabwe to
LOCALS ARE FORCED TO QUEUE FOR HOURS OUTSIDE BANKS FOR THE CHANCE TO WITHDRAW A MAXIMUM OF $ 50 FROM THEIR ACCOUNT EACH DAY
really embrace the latest technological developments and adopt an alternative solution to their crisis: a completely cashless society.
An electronic, cashless society
While the idea of a cashless society is new, Zimbabweans have only begun embracing digital payments purely out of necessity. " It ' s no longer an issue of choice, but [ instead ] what ' s available to you as a means of making a payment or transaction work," tech analyst, Nigel Gambanga told CNN. " Over the past few months there ' s been a lot of optimism about how plastic money has surged-- it ' s going up a rate of 15 % each month."
Locals are increasingly using mobile money, he said, estimating that three quarters of the
60 Business Times Africa | 2016