Well if you ever transacted in the past few days, you would have noticed a very big unpleasant change to the charges Ecocash is now charging. Where are we really going as a nation, is it a lack of worthy competitors, or government policies causing all these unrealistic charges. Apparently to transact $5 the charges are now about $2 that’s a 40% charge on a single transaction, all this is a result of the Digital Service Tax (DST) on top of the government tax and the service provider charges as well. Lack of clarity on actual charges is what is causing this uproar and the reasons for these ureasonable hikes yet to be disclosed to us, where will this money go and what will it be used for. Let’s take a look at what is really happening so we may try to get handle on the current situation.
Well as you might have experienced or heard through outcrys on social media, things just took a turn for the worst, and it now almost as if we are now splitting almost 50/50 with charges and money we want to send. All this screams lack in transparency from both the government side and the Ecocash side with their platforms not even showing the actual tariffs with customers having to guess or get payments declined over and over again.
Their service and customer support has also declined from the last month update incident which actually made things worse. I recently reached out to ecocash to get some clarity on the charges and i asked how much charges would apply to make a transaction of $30 via the virtual card payment and here is the response below:
Hi Buddie. Kindly note that effective 1 January 2026, the Government of Zimbabwe introduced a 15% Digital Services Tax (DST) on Digital international transactions which is exclusive of the existing online payment charges. Please confirm the site you paid on. The merchant you are trying to pay may have their own charges, which can differ from one merchant to another on top of the 15%. ^IM
Well for starters 15% DST plus 2% government tax and the standard 2.5% charged by Ecocash to give a total of 19.5%, is not the 40% they charged me when i made a $5 payment just to confirm the rates they had talked of which further raises questions of the lack of transparency surrounding this whole thing.These hikes coupled with last month’s update issue points out to Ecocash maybe failing to meet customer expectations. This shows that over reliance on a specific service provider is recipe for disaster as proven time and time again in various industries.
Many people have been complaining with their grievances taking weeks of even months to be attended to especially reversals being high on that list yet the Ecocash customer support is not doing an adequate job to address these concerns.
Economic Impact
The big question is what is really the purpose of these exorbitant charges and rates and where does this money really go, what is the purpose of these taxes. It would have been understandable if they were a mere percentage but going almost 50/50 puts Zimbabwe among the countries with the high time rates and charges on digital transactions slowing down business and other economic activities which rely on these transactions.
Note: You can buy tech accessories like Harddrives, Rams, SSDs and more, click here to visit our Perusee store.
These policies are some of the policies which have caused some closures and failures of major companies like OK, a once thriving retail giant put under corporate rescue like we are in a global recession. If large institutions like OK can be affected now imagine the SME space and how they are coping with these unrealistic charges and rates.
All this is doing is further damaging economic activity of an economy already on the decline, piling more problems for businesses owners and ordinary folk alike forcing people to pay almost double of what they should actually pay. Government should do something and review the impact such policies have on the industry and implement policies which benefit us a nation not keep us down.
Solution for the future?
I think now it’s high time to look at alternate payment systems like Omari and Innbucks to see if this is affecting the whole nation or it’s just ecocash. Those who have experiences with other alternative payment methods can help with their experience in the comment section to shed some light so that we understand as well. You can also join discussions in the forum and get insights from other forum members, just create an account for free on the site.
If you have a tip, a story, or something you want us to cover get in touch with us by clicking here. Sign up to our newsletter so you won’t miss a post and stay in the loop and updated also we will be launching a free basic cybersecurity short course for beginners to teach you how to protect yourself online. Just subscribe for free to our newsletter and create an account on Perusee to be eligible.
Note: You can also advertise on Perusee, just contact us, call or app +263 78 613 9635
Click here to Follow our WhatsApp channel
Keep comments respectful and in line with the article, also create an account and login to chat with members in our forum, get help on issues you need help with from community members.