Sasai, a pay, chat and explore application has incorporated the recently unveiled Ecocash bureau de change service into its plethora of services, to offer efficient cash conversion for its customers who are recipients of diaspora remittances, 263Chat Business can report.
The latest innovation is testament to Cassava Smartech Group, the holding company of the two entities, Sasai and Ecocash, inroads in providing digital solutions to practical problems.
This will also see the costs of remittance transactions for users of Sasai slashed to zero percent, in a market where international money transfer companies are charging commissions in the region of between 8 and 15 percent.
“Leveraging on the assets that we have within the Group, you would know we have Cassava remit domiciled in the UK and Ecocash Remit domiciled in South Africa. We have looked at what we have as Ecocash Bureau de Change and Sasai and we are slashing remittances effective the first of September for those corridors to be zero rated,” Cassava Smartech CEO, Edmore Chibi told stakeholders at the launch.
Subsequent to the zero rating during the first month of this product ending September 30, the Group will apply a tariff of 2.5 percent.
“Remittance inflows into Zimbabwe are over US$ 1 billion annually. But one of the biggest challenges we have realized with remittances is the cost of actually doing the remittances transaction. On average the remittance transaction costs between 8 and 15 percent. And it’s a huge costs,” added Chibi.
The coming in of the Ecocash Bureau de Change is expect to harness diaspora remittances into the group’s channel given Ecocash has a subscriber base of 10 million clients, juxtapose this massive consumer base into the Sasai platform, there are huge gains at stake for Cassava Smartech.
Meanwhile, Ecocash CEO, Natalie Jabangwe said the company’s Bureau de change unit will be launching phase two of its project that will also see customers able to buy USD.
