Bard executive director Lucia Chingwaru (Pic credit: TheNewsHawks)

Zimbabwean BARD Santner Incorporated, a financial intermediary and advisory firm, has launched a new money remittance platform TX Money Transfer.

Bard says it wants to improve reliability, transparency on charges to avoid hidden costs and promote collaboration to remove process chokeholds from the sector that have taken a toll on clients.

According to Zimbabwean publication The News Hawks, Bard executive director Lucia Chingwaru stated at the launch: "Our main goal is to bridge existing gaps in the remittance sector by providing a reliable, transparent, and integrated service."

"We value reliability as much as transparency. We also need to collaborate with others in an integrated, not fragmented, manner."

According to the publication, Chingwaru believes it is vital to inform clients about charges and hidden fees associated with the remittance process in order to ensure transparency.

She said: "To start with, we need to study the current system with existing players to remove bottlenecks in the sector to ensure smooth and better service for our clients and good returns for business."

Chingwaru continued: "There is also need to pay attention to the issue of opportunity cost: Every minute spent waiting in a queue, for instance, due to bottlenecks is a missed opportunity elsewhere.

"To address some of these key issues requires collaboration with others and process redesign and revisit of workflows.

"Technology can be used to address these issues. For instance, we need to ensure automation and artificial intelligence in critical areas which can help. The idea is to increase capacity, reduce lead time and improve capacity. It is crucial to continuously monitor the process and remove bottlenecks."