Steward Bank launches a POS Machine, Kwenga

In one of our previous articles, we asked where Ecocash Ta! went, a system which was going to be the most used mobile money transfer gadget in Zimbabwe because of its features.

That will be totally forgotten as a new baby is born in the banking sector. Econet Wireless Zimbabwe owned Steward Bank yesterday unveiled Kwenga, a portable Point of Sale (POS) machine which is meant for small business which may not be able to buy the traditional POS machines.

The device is meant for the most ignored yet mostly populated market, the Small to Medium Enterprise (SME).

Due to the economic downturn in the country,  SMEs are the most dominant to anything else which then makes Kwenga relevant.

For micropayments below a dollar,  Kwenga has no charges which mean it can be used by vendors and Kombie operators.

image:Steward bank

Quite often,  due to the cash crisis currently facing the nation,  buying at the market or commuting has been a crisis,  but with Kwenga coming on board,  it will soon be a thing of the past. In addition,  it also allows users to swipe to Ecocash.

Ecocash is the most used digital payment platform in Zimbabwe, taking about 80% of all e-transactions.

To acquire a Kwenga device,  it only cost $35 and $200 for the smaller device and for the bigger one respectively.

Currently, an ordinary POS machine costs $600 – $700 to acquire, and with this huge difference,  Kwenga promises to be the real deal.  The device can also be used by up to 5 users hence the costs of acquiring the machine can be shared.

The Kwenga merchant portal is available on internet banking, mobile banking and even on your kambudzi phone.

One can also apply for Kwenga loans without having to visit the bank. Their algorithms look at your activity and decide if you get one.