Zimbabwe's second largest telco by subscriber numbers, Telecel, on Wednesday launched a credit card for its mobile money system Telecash.

Telecash was launched early this year and officials have said about $17 million has been transacted via the system to date.

However, the launch on Wednesday of Telecel’s gold credit card is expected to bring enhanced convenience for Telecash users, according to Nkosinathi Ncube, the mobile money director for Telecel.

The Telecash card will be driven through CBZ, one of the biggest banks in Zimbabwe.

"Mobile money has been struggling to make a mark in retail. We consulted widely with banks and retail operators and have come up with the Telecash gold card," said Ncube.

He said Telecel was geared to broaden financial inclusion in Zimbabwe through ensuring that people also get to use to credit cards and being able to withdraw money from automated teller machines (ATMs).

The Telecash gold card has also been linked to the Zimswitch system, which links up Zimbabwean banks and enables their customers to withdraw money from ATMs across the country.

"People should be able to withdraw the money they receive on Telecash from ATMs," said Ncube.

Tendai Chirongote, an IT director for Telecel Zimbabwe, said his company had also decided to open up the Telecash system for full integration with banks in the country.

Unlike other mobile money service offerings in Zimbabwe such as ECoCash run by EConet and One Wallet run by NetOne, Telecash users can send money across mobile networks in Zimbabwe.