Traditional money transfer organisations such as MoneyGram are banking on the rollout of self-service to withstand growing competition from emerging mobile money platforms, which are now being embraced through partnerships.

MoneyGram on Wednesday announced a partnership with Zimbabwe' EcoCash, run by Econet Wireless, the largest telecom company in the southern African country.

Econet already has partnerships with Western Union and WorldRemit.

Economic hardship in Zimbabwe has forced many citizens to seek greener pastures in other countries in Africa and elsewhere in Europe, in the USA and Australia.

The EcoCash and MoneyGram partnership will enable expat Zimbabweans from 200 countries across the world to send money directly to the mobile wallets of recipients back home.

MoneyGram's Vice President for Africa Herve Chomel and the company's regional director of southern and eastern Africa Anton Luttig both attended the press conference launch of the partnership on 21 October.

Chomel said MoneyGram had adopted a strategy to expand "self-service offerings" aimed at ensuring relevance in the money remittance scene. Other operators are also embracing digital platforms in order to keep up with demand.

"With the service, we are offering millions of consumers, many in remote areas of the country, access to a fast, reliable and secure method of transferring money, much of which is used to purchase life essentials and daily expenses," he said.

Econet has about 4.9 million registered mobile money users, according to stats released last week by the company. It also added that agents for the mobile money platform had surged to 20 000 spread across the country.

Douglas Mboweni, the chief executive officer of Econet Wireless said that the Zimbabwean telecom company now had "a strong presence in Zimbabwe's digital environment" and highlighted that tying up with MoneyGram would bring "more options to our consumers".

"In-wallet remittances are becoming more topical, not only in driving access to international remittances for the previously unbanked but also driving further financial inclusion as we link the diaspora and home," added Mboweni.