Educate rural folk on use of plastic money

EDITOR — I blame the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the parent ministry and banks for failing to educate Zimbabweans on the use of plastic money. My heart is pained to see an old man or woman standing in a bank queue for hours on end only to deposit the same cash they want to get into a payment account.

Often, they use their “hard-earned” cash to make purchase in a supermarket, and return to the bank queue the following day. This is because they have not been educated.

The RBZ and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development are always on TV and in the papers. This is wrong. They should engage ruralfolk, including rural businesses, directly.

Engage traditional leaders — the chiefs, headmen and kraal heads (maSabhuku). These people know how to educate their subjects. Stop the TV and newspaper thing. Urbanites know how to use plastic money.

Engage ruralfolk so that plastic and mobile money are embraced.

Imagine how One Wallet or Ecocash, for instance, could transform the rural economy if proper education were rolled out? People don’t know that they can link their bank account to mobile money for easy transacting. Some school heads don’t know that they can have biller accounts and receive school fees.

Rural shop operators in some areas also don’t know that they can replace their stock by buying goods through mobile money transfer facilities and plastic money. Please RBZ and Ministry of Finance, do more to help the country.

Marufu Chihwandire Harare