Steward Bank has introduced the correspondence banking concept, adding to its existing range of innovations in the Zimbabwean banking industry.
BY Business reporter
In a statement, the bank said under correspondence banking, a concept common in America and countries including Brazil, customers and non-customers would be allowed to carry out transactions such as withdrawals and deposits through the ZimSwitch platform as well as cashing in and cashing out from their EcoCash wallets.
“Steward Bank has appointed agents across Zimbabwe and the bank has carried out several launch events throughout the country in areas which include Harare, Mutare and Chitungwiza and more agent launches are pencilled around parts of the country in the near future. This will mean increasing convenience and accessibility, in addition to reducing the overall costs of banking to the consumer,” the bank said.
“The correspondence banking concept will enable Steward Bank to offer all financial products and services under one roof. This will translate into a one-stop shop, saving a lot of time and transaction costs, as well as increasing speed or flow of work — a win-win for both the bank and the customer”.
Steward Bank said correspondence banks participate in many kinds of banking activities and act as both commercial and investment banks as well as providing other financial services such as insurance. In addition to the traditional banking services, customers will also enjoy direct cash deposits and card deposits, withdrawals through mobile phone cash out and/or card and point of sale (POS) as well, bill payments such as DStv and Zimbabwe National Road Authority (Zinara) subscriptions, balance enquiry and mini-statement.
According to Steward Bank, the institution already benefits from the synergies of the convergence of banking and mobile network operations through its partnership with Econet Wireless Zimbabwe. It will utilise the already existing EcoCash agent network, which is the widest mobile money network in the country as well as ZimSwitch platform for service delivery.
