The idea of interoperability in simple terms is to enable a mobile money customer on one network's proprietary system to send or receive money from another customer on a different network. Regulators typically want this to help boost competition, drive financial inclusion and encourage consumer usage. Network operators are less keen due to the short to medium costs as well as the fact it reduces the need for customers to own multiple phone services to move money around.
Zimbabwean Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube told a Duke University Business in Africa Conference in 2016.
Former ICT Minister Supa Mandiwanzira had demanded that mobile money platforms be interoperable by April 1, 2018. He said this will help boost financial inclusion and ease transaction hurdles. Mobile money payments in 2017 grew to $18 billion, up from the 2016 figure of $5.8 billion.
Mobile money platforms in Zimbabwe currently allow their customers to send money to recipients on rival networks through the "send to unregistered subscriber" option. However, recipients still have to use the network of the sender to cash out the money, hence the government views this as not fully fledged in terms of interoperability.
