73% of Zimbabwe’s 15 million population uses cash, according 2022 census results, and this contrasts sharply with 17% who use bank cards and 10% who use mobile money platforms.

Data from the Finscope Consumer Survey Report Zimbabwe 2022 shows that use cases for mobile wallets and banking platforms remain largely limited to airtime purchases and Point of Sale (PoS) purchases.

Approximately 63% of the country’s population uses cash for airtime, internet and telecom payments, the survey adds.

In contrast, only about 30% of Zimbabwe’s populace uses mobile money for airtime and other telecommunications service payments such as data. This makes up the highest use case for mobile wallets.

Payments for utilities represents the strongest use case for bank cards, with 20% of the population using this channel.

Research shows Zimbabwe is home to 4.4 million mobile money users and the number of bank account holders has increased from 2 million in 2014 to 3.7 million in 2022.

However, the number of unbanked adult Zimbabweans remains high at 3.7 million or 54% of the population.

An excerpt from the Survey reads: “Lack of money remains the main reason for not having a bank account/mobile money. One in five adults prefers using cash over mobile money or bank and 16% reported affordability as another barrier for not using bank or mobile money accounts.”

“Mobile money is playing a pivotal role in making the financial sector more inclusive in Zimbabwe. Further, mobile money is aiding in reducing exclusion rates among the rural populace, females, and youth,” it continues.

A breakdown of the data from the survey shows that 72% of Zimbabwean households now have access to either a bank account or mobile money. About 47% of Zimbabwean households only have access to bank accounts, while 66% of households have access only to mobile money accounts.

Only one in four or 28% users of mobile money are considered high users as they use their accounts more frequently either daily or weekly.