Ismail Musa Ladu
26 June 2009
Zain Uganda will launch its Zap mobile money facility next week where its customers will send and receive money via their mobile phones. Ismail Musa Ladu interviewed the Marketing Manager of Mobile Data, Multimedia and Messaging, Mr George Buza, about the product...
What is Zap all about?
It is a new product from Zain Group, cutting through East Africa and eventually the whole of Africa and finally in the Middle East. Zap is a new payment system, which will allow customers to make payments using virtual money by an application on their mobile phone to pay for goods and services and to send money to their acquaintances.
How will Zap impact on the usual life?
Zap will save time and that means more money. The main benefits is that you will have more time to do other things and have at the same time the convenience of managing the money at your fingertips, so you save time of going to the bank, directing your mom to the bank in the village, paying your suppliers and other bills.
How complicated will the application be to the common man?
The common man should not mind about application but mind about how Zap can be able to help him or her in doing daily business.
With Zap you can do what you do daily without having to run to a bank to withdraw money or to a supplier to pay for goods and services or sending money to the villages or even paying for your electricity bill.
How affordable is the Zap service?
We don't want to bring a product that is expensive. It is only Shs250 and we are encouraging our agents to stick to the recommended cash in and cash out prices. With Shs250 in the market for Zap service, I believe we are the cheapest in the market.
How accessible are you all over the country?
When you receive the money directly on your phone you can cash out anywhere with our Zap agents who are spread out allover the country. The drive for authorised dealers is going on so if someone sought to cash out or in one will have to walk to an authorised agent to have the transaction done.
How safe is Zap in terms of security?
Everyone will have a unique password. The equipment involved in this transaction is state- of- the art and I assure you, people will receive their money in its entirety.
Does one need to change his mobile phone to accrue Zap benefits?
Luckily no one will have to do that. At some point all sim cards should be Zap compliant.
We know you as a telecommunication company, are you becoming a financial institution?
We are a mobile company regulated by Uganda Communication Commission. But because we needed to enter the financial space, we needed to take on a partner in the banking industry and this is Standard Chartered Bank who are regulated by BoU to be able to perform this function.
How different is Zap from others already on the market?
Zap service is more than just money transfer. It will allow you to make payment to merchants, groceries, send and receive money and top up prepaid accounts.
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