Zimbabwe’s digital payments ecosystem recorded a notable contraction in the first quarter of 2025, with the total value of electronic transactions processed through the national payment systems falling by 8,66% to ZiG532,61 billion.
This marked a significant decline from the ZiG583,14 billion recorded in the previous quarter, according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s (RBZ) latest payments system analysis. The downturn also affected transaction volumes, which dropped by 7,54% to 174,41 million during the same period.
This slowdown comes against the backdrop of a tighter monetary policy and declining consumer purchasing power.
While the introduction of the ZiG as Zimbabwe’s new currency in April 2024 initially boosted confidence in digital transactions, recent liquidity constraints appear to be dampening payment activity across digital platforms. Analysts attribute the decline to broader macroeconomic challenges, including falling disposable incomes and cautious business spending. However, the RBZ report noted that seasonal factors played a role in the quarter-on-quarter drop.
"The decrease in the first quarter of the year when compared to the last quarter of last year is largely attributed to the festive season, which is typically marked by bonus payments, while activity levels in the first quarter reflect the normal trend," it said.
“Similarly, the aggregate value of USD transactions processed through the RTGS system recorded a 9,4% decline from US$8,55 billion to US$7,74 billion during the quarter ending March 31, 2025.”
Transaction volumes also declined by 2,31% to 1,46 million.
For local currency RTGS transactions, the value processed declined by 9,12%, from ZiG340,50 billion in Q4 2024 to ZiG310,19 billion in Q1 2025. The number of RTGS transactions dropped by 8,78% to 2,57 million. Retail transactions also followed the downward trend, with the aggregate value decreasing by 8,33% from ZiG242,64 billion to ZiG222,42 billion. The volume of retail transactions declined by 7,53% to 171,84 million. The value of collateral for Zimswitch, Central Securities Depository and Zimbabwe Stock Exchange settlement systems increased to ZiG571,83 million in the first quarter ending March 31, 2025 up from ZiG562,03 million recorded in the previous quarter.
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“This largely reflects an increase in the value of transactions processed through the Zimswitch platform resulting in the Zimswitch Collateral balances rising by 2%,” it said.
The Victoria Falls Stock Exchange Limited foreign currency collateral adequate to cover the risk levels for the first quarter of 2025 was US$47 766,28. The RBZ said the point-of-sale population, which stood at 135 520 at the end of the fourth quarter 2024, decreased to 129 081.
As of March 31, 2025, active mobile financial services subscribers slightly rose to 10,1 million from 10 million recorded in the quarter ending December 31, 2024.
Exchange rate as at March 31, 2025: US$1:ZiG26,8.
Zimbabwe’s payments platforms have been bolstered by a national financial inclusion strategy, which was announced by the RBZ in 2016.
In August 2022, the RBZ said the number of financially included Zimbabweans reached 83% in the same year, but still below its 90% target.
This translates to about 12,45 million Zimbabweans, who are now on banking platforms through various systems, including mobile money.
