MOBILE telecommunications firm, NetOne, says its mobile financial service — OneMoney — increased its active subscribers by more than 49% in the first quarter of the year, due to the increase in the use of electronic money in the country.

The company’s executive marketing and corporate affairs, Eldrette Shereni, told NewsDay in emailed responses that NetOne had successfully rebranded its mobile money platform to become a force to reckon with in the industry.

“NetOne’s mobile financial services — OneMoney — has increased its active subscribers by more than 49% as well as gaining market share. In 2017’s last quarter, NetOne had 52 940 active subscribers and in 2018’s first quarter, it had 78 968 subscribers, resulting in 49,17% increase,” she said.

“It has also gained 0,45% market share of active mobile money subscriptions in the first quarter of 2018. OneMoney has registered significant performance in revenue and ecosystem growth in Q1,” Shereni said.

With the evolving mobile financial services (MFS) landscape in Zimbabwe owing to the increase in the use of electronic money, Shereni said the business has had a share of that.

“Unfortunately, we will not be able to share, specifics on our key business leads so far, but we are sufficiently encouraged by the performance. We have been growing month-on-month in the past quarter and this growth is attributed to the trust our subscribers are investing into the OneMoney brand,” she said.

“Our brand vision from the beginning has been to create better and happier everyday lives for millions of Zimbabweans and beyond, this forms our why, the context of the NetOne mobile money business. We are fulfilling this vision by using OneMoney as a tool for social and financial inclusion.”

Shereni said the tariffs levied on OneMoney were the least in the market since they recognise the plight of the ordinary Zimbabwean.

“Our debit card has also been a success since the adoption is encouraging. It is a card that allows anyone to swipe for goods and services at any ZimSwitch point-of sale-terminal, creating convenience for all,” she said.

“Our customers have supported the promotions we launched that allowed access to discounted airtime and Zesa [electricity], again bringing smiles to many of our valued customers.”

According to the latest Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe report, OneMoney’s current market share stands at 1,57%.

Other MFS in Zimbabwe include EcoCash, Telecash, Zipcash, among others.