IMTT reduction to drive US$ mobile transactions

ECOCASH Holdings Zimbabwe Limited says the downward review of the Intermediate Money Transfer Tax (IMTT) on domestic foreign currency transfers from four percent to two percent is expected to further accelerate the adoption of United States dollar digital money transfer services.

IMMT reduction came into effect on 1 January.

The technological firm says with the increased usage of the United States dollar, it has witnessed a drop in the volume of local currency mobile money transactions in the third quarter period ended 30 November 2022 compared to the prior year.

In its latest trading update, Ecocash said it was focused on expanding its foreign currency mobile money services.

“In the quarter under review, we have focused on growing the mobile money United States dollar transactions distribution footprint across the country,” said the company.

“The growth has greatly improved customer convenience and physical access to our financial services for United States dollar transaction volumes. We expect this trend to continue as we drive to digitise the United States dollar cash economy, which has continued to grow.

“The reduction of IMTT on domestic money transfer transactions from four percent to two percent effective 1 January 2023 is expected to further accelerate the adoption of United States dollar digital money transfer services.”

Unlike the use of foreign currency, the company said there has been a low usage of local currency mobile money transactions.

On the banking services front, Ecocash said a 56 percent growth was registered in mobile banking volumes against the same period in 2021.

Point of Sale transaction volumes dropped by 27 percent, confirming the increase in United States dollar cash transactions in the economy.-chronicle