Latest partnership with Mukuru adds 19 new cash pick-up points

Remittance service company Mukuru (Mukuru.com) has partnered with Zimpost in a deal that allows its customers to withdraw money at any of Zimpost’s 19 branches across country, bringing much-needed convenience to the distribution of the company’s remittance services.

Currently, participating Zimpost branches include Lupane, Bulawayo, Plumtree, Beitbridge, Tsholotsho, Hwange, Gwanda, Norton, Harare, Chegutu, Karoi, Kariba, Mutare, Chipinge, Murewa, Gweru, Chiredzi, Chivhu and Masvingo.

Mukuru customers simply need to go to one of the Zimpost branches mentioned above with their ID and proof of transaction (SMS) to collect their money.

This new partnership comes just a few weeks after the announcement by Econet of its EcoCash-Mukuru partnership. Mukuru’s series of offerings shows that companies intend to localize their service and make it easily accessible to customers across the country in already known locations. Leveraging ZimPost’s already established infrastructure, network and local appeal could help the Mukuru brand locate by gaining a physical presence in previously inaccessible areas.

Speaking on the partnership with Zimpost, Mukuru’s Marketing Director Mike Cook said:

“Mukuru always strives to make the remittance process easier for both the sender and the recipient. Especially at this time when we are working to make sure that our customers can continue to send money and collect money. This is exactly what our partnership with Zimpost does by bringing our collection service closer to customers who need it.

Mukuru still faces stiff competition from established money transfer services in Zimbabwe like Western Union which already has a large network of local agents / collection points across the country and integrated with the EcoCash system. . This may be a case of Mukuru catching up, but he is taking the necessary steps to become the main money transfer service in the country.

However, immediately adding 19 new collection points across the country can prove to be a difficult situation with the cash flow crisis. Unless Mukuru has strategies to ensure that clients receive their remittances immediately, collection points may simply be reserved spaces until the arrival of the bond tickets which are expected this month.