This document outlines research comparing perspectives on digital payments in Zimbabwe and Cambodia. The research aims to understand local views on digital vs other payment methods, compare findings between the two contexts, and identify key differences and their reasons. Researchers will ask merchants pre-designed questions in each country. In Zimbabwe, respondents include a hardware shop owner, pharmacy owner, and fast food owner. In Cambodia, respondents are a construction materials seller, general goods seller who is also a money transfer agent, and farmers as neighbors.

1. Customer
Research
Project:
Comparing
Zimbabwe
and
Cambodia
DIGITAL
MONEY
COURSE,
WEEK
7
CAVIN BEPURA,
RASIMA
SWARUP

2. Research
Overview
Objectives:
vUnderstand
local
thoughts
about
digital
payments
vs.
other
methods
in
Zimbabwe
and
Cambodia
vCompare
findings
to
see
how
different
environmental
contexts
change
perspectives
vIdentify
key
differences
in
ideas
and
their
underlying
reasons
Methodology:
vRandomly
find
three
merchants
spread
out
in
or
around
the
city
vIntroduce
self
and
purpose
of
research
vAsk
them
whether
they
would
like
to
participate
vIf
yes,
ask
them
pre-­‐designed
questions
Researchers:
Cavin Bepura
vWorking
with
a
banking
institution
in
Zimbabwe
in
the
IT
department,
supporting
digital
banking
applications
and
platforms
and
more
recently
involved
in
a
large
scale
Core
Banking
Transformation
Project
vStudying
for
a
Masters
in
Business
Leadership
with
the
University
of
South
Africa
Rasima
Swarup
vA
student
at
The
Fletcher
School,
interested
in
digital
finance,
innovation,
and
human
centered
design
vWorked
in
Cambodia
shortly
this
summer
on
a
similar
topic
and
found
it
to
be
interesting
to
compare
with
Zimbabwe

3. Country
Context
&
Respondent
Profiles
–
Zimbabwe
Context:
Zimbabwe
is
a
Sub-­‐Saharan
Africa
country
with
a
population
of
approximately
16
million. Zimbabwe’s
growing
digital
money
community
is
mainly
dominated
by
MNO
led
cash-­‐In
and
Cash-­‐Out
services
modeled
along
Kenya’s
M-­‐Pesa service.
The
use
of
card
payments
has
also
been
on
a
growing
trend
driven
by
a
cash-­‐crisis
currently
being
experienced
in
the
economy.
Financial
literacy
is
generally
low
and
with
the
economy
in
dire
straits,
poverty
levels
are
also
high.
Mr.
Mlambo:
Lives
in
a
high-­‐density
urban
area
about
20km
from
the
capital
city.
He
operates
a
hardware
shop
at
one
of
the
shopping
centers
in
his
home
town.
He
supplies
various
merchandise
including
building
material,
farming
supplements
and
workshop
equipment.
He
works
with
his
wife
and
two
other
people
that
he
employs.
Works
from
8am
to
6pm.
On
a
busy
day
he
can
have
35-­‐40
customers
walk
in.
Ms.
Zuze:
Operates
a
pharmacy
in
the
Central
Business
District
of
the
capital
city
(Harare).
Besides
pharmaceuticals
there
is
also
a
cosmetics
section
inside
her
pharmacy.
She
mainly
sources
her
inventory
from
local
distributors
but
also
imports
a
sizeable
portion
mainly
from
neighboring
South
Africa.
She
employs
four
people.
Works
from
7am
to
8pm.
On
a
busy
day
45-­‐50
customers
can
walk
in.
Ms.
Musanhi:
Operates
a
fast
food
outlet
in
industrial
areas
of
Harare.
Her
target
market
are
the
industrial
workers
whom
she
serves
breakfast
and
lunch.
These
are
no-­‐frills
customers
looking
mainly
for
a
plate
of
the
local
staple.
She
employs
two
other
ladies.
Works
from
7am
to
4pm.
On
a
good
day
95-­‐100
customers
walk
in.
*
Respondent
names
have
been
changed
for
privacy
purposes

4. Country
Context
&
Respondent
Profiles
–
Cambodia
Context: Cambodia,
a
South-­‐East
Asian
country,
has
a
population
of
about
15.8
million.
It
is
still
new
to
digital
finance
and
has
not
yet
introduced
mobile
money.
Digital
finance
goes
as
far
as
formal
services
providing
money
transfer
services
for
customers
where
customers
can
send/receive
money
through
agents
spread
across
the
country,
and
inter-­‐bank
transfers.
While
card
payments
are
accepted
at
larger
shops
and
institutions,
their
use
is
low
among
the
local
population.
Financial
literacy
is
generally
low
and
poverty
is
wide-­‐spread.
Mr.
Buntha: Lives
away
from
the
city
and
mostly
has
farmers
as
neighbors.
One
has
to
travel
for
a
significant
while
on
dirt
roads
to
get
to
his
house.
He
sells
cement
and
other
construction
material
from
his
home.
Heads
to
the
market
(which
is
about
a
20
min
drive)
every
2-­‐3
days
in
his
pick-­‐up
truck
and
brings
home
what
he
needs
for
his
inventory.
He
lives
in
an
area
where
he
is
one
of
the
few
who
provide
construction
material.
Works
from
7
am
to
6
pm.
Has
about
15-­‐20
customers
walk
in
on
a
busy
day.
Ms.
Sotear: Away
from
the
main
city
center,
runs
a
business
from
her
home.
Her
shop
has
an
assortment
of
clothes
for
children,
toys,
cosmetics
and
other
toiletries,
accessories
like
hair
clips
and
bands,
candy
and
snacks,
and
other
home
items.
Is
also
an
agent
for
a
money
transfer
service.
She
buys
her
stock
generally
per
month,
on
wholesale
and
has
it
delivered
home.
Works
from
5:30
am
to
7:30
pm.
Lives
in
a
lane
full
of
small
shops
and
houses.
Has
about
10-­‐15
customers
come
in
on
busier
days.
Ms.
Chariya: Lives
in
the
city,
has
a
small
business
of
selling
sugar
cane
juice
and
some
soft
drinks.
She
works
from
7
am
to
7
pm.
The
people
she
buys
sugar
cane
from
come
to
her
house
every
3-­‐4
days
and
she
buys
the
bundles
on
the
spot.
Her
husband
runs
a
motorbike
repairs
shop
and
so
she
is
less
stressed/dependent
on
her
income
from
her
business.
*
Respondent
names
have
been
changed
for
privacy
purposes

5. Current
payment
methods
ZIMBABWE
vMainly
accept
cash
payment
method
vGrowing
mobile
money
usage
mainly
driven
by
MNOs
and
also
card
payments
on
POS
terminals
vCustomers
mainly
prefer
to
pay
via
cash
but
mobile
money
and
card
payments
are
growing
in
popularity
due
to
the
prevailing
cash
shortages
vSuppliers’
preferences
are
split
between
cash,
bank
transfers
and
lately
mobile
money.
Cash
is
currently
the
most
preferred
due
to
trust
issues
with
keeping
money
in
banks
as
a
result
of
uncertainty
on
where
the
monetary
policy
is
herding
CAMBODIA
vMainly
accept
cash
as
payment
method
vCash
could
be
paid
directly
in-­‐hand
or
via
formal
money
transfer
services
vCustomers
prefer
to
pay
by
cash
especially
when
it’s
a
small
buy
as
it
is
easy,
instant
payment,
and
has
no
fees
attached
to
it
vSuppliers
are
happy
receiving
cash
too
but
as
payouts
to
suppliers
become
larger,
merchants
prefer
to
use
formal
money
transfer
services
for
safety
purposes

6. Paper-­‐based
payments
ZIMBABWE
vCash
is
arguably
the
most
preferred
currently
but
checks
have
become
almost
extinct
vCheap
and
easy.
Also
people
would
prefer
to
hold
their
US
Dollars
in
hard
currency
than
risk
having
their
money
at
a
bank
converted
to
a
local
currency
that
is
being
introduced
in
the
next
2
months
that
people
do
not
trust.
Surprisingly,
suppliers
are
charging
more
for
the
same
goods
if
paid
for
via
bank
transfer
to
encourage
cash
payments
vSafety
issues
with
carrying
cash
CAMBODIA
vAre
most
comfortable
with
making
paper-­‐
based
payments
– cash,
no
checks
vCheapest
way
to
make
direct
payments;
other
payments
cost
some
amount
of
fees
vDifficult
sometimes
to
safely
pay
with
cash;
feel
they
could
be
robbed
if
they
weren’t
careful
vInterestingly,
cash
payments
can
be
made
in
a
mix
of
currencies
including
US
dollars,
Cambodian
Riel,
Vietnamese
Dong
and
Thai
Baht.
People
are
comfortable
receiving
any
of
these
currencies
as
payment
forms

7. Digital
payments
ZIMBABWE
vMobile
money
services
are
growing
in
popularity
and
are
widely
accepted
as
a
form
of
payment.
Modeled
along
M-­‐Pesa of
Kenya.
vMerchants
normally
accept
mobile
money
and
are
now
also
able
to
pay
their
suppliers,
limitation
is
the
relatively
low
daily
transfer
limit.
vAvailability
is
widespread
although
reliability
issues
in
the
outlying
rural
areas
is
an
issue.
Agent
distribution
in
also
sparse
in
such
areas
therefore
negatively
affecting
usage.
vThe
cost
of
cashing
in
and
cashing
out
is
still
regarded
as
high
and
the
regulator
has
recently
initiated
moves
to
reduce
these
fees
to
promote
usage
in
the
face
of
cash
shortages.
CAMBODIA
vDon’t
know
what
the
concept
of
mobile
money
is
and
can’t
see
how
they
could
transfer
using
this
concept;
feel
safer
seeing
the
money
in
their
hands
vThe
more
literate
can
think
of
digital
payments
as
inter-­‐account
transfers
but
are
concerned
mainly
with
the
fees
that
they
may
have
to
pay
vThey
do
use
formal
transfer
services
where
the
payment
amounts
are
large
but
this
is
still
less
used
compared
to
cash
vMerchants
that
are
agents
of
money
transfer
services
also
use
the
service
to
pay
off
their
suppliers
– a
smart
business
tactic
vDifficult
with
network
issues
and
find
it
hard
to
trust
the
system
when
this
happens

8. Key
findings
vBoth
countries
favor
cash
payments
vInterestingly,
both
countries
also
use
foreign
currencies
for
local
payments
although
people
in
Zimbabwe
don’t
trust
the
new
currency
coming
into
circulation
while
Cambodia’s
Riel
is
widely
accepted
vZimbabwe’s
financial
ecosystem
is
more
advanced
than
Cambodia’s,
especially
in
terms
of
digital
finance,
the
concept
of
mobile
money
is
almost
common
terminology;
Cambodia
is
still
far
from
building
this
environment
vPeople
of
both
countries
prefer
to
avoid
transaction
fees
where
possible
e.g.
with
bank
transfers
vBank
transfers
have
been
less
favored
in
Zimbabwe
due
to
lack
of
trust
of
the
monetary
policy.
E.g.
Restrictions
on
how
much
one
can
transfer
outside
the
country
to
import
goods;
a
new
Zim currency
being
introduced
in
the
next
two
months
that
people
don’t
trust
(currently
Zim is
using
the
US
Dollar
and
has
no
local
currency
in
circulation
since
2009
due
to
hyperinflation
that
rendered
the
local
currency
worthless)
vCards
are
also
growing
in
usage
in
Zim – there
are
local
cards
that
work
on
the
local
switch
and
international
Visa
and
Mastercard cards

9. Appendix
The
questions
asked
included
the
following:
• Can
you
tell
me
about
your
business?
• How
many
hours
do
you
work
on
your
business?
• How
many
customers
do
you
work
with
per
day?
What
do
you
think
about
that?
• What
are
the
different
ways
through
which
your
customers
pay
you?
Which
method
is
most
common?
Why?
• How
many
times
in
a
week/month
do
you
have
to
renew
your
supplies?
How
do
you
do
that?
• How
do
you
pay
your
suppliers?
Why
this
method
compared
to
others?
• What
do
you
prefer,
cash
or
digital
options
like
bank
transfers/mobile
money?
Why?
• Could
you
tell
me
what’s
most
useful
about
using
cash?
What’s
difficult
about
using
cash?
• Could
you
tell
me
what’s
most
useful
about
using
checks?
What’s
difficult
about
using
checks?
• How
comfortable
are
you
using
online
or
mobile
methods
for
payments?
(Could
be
mobile,
card,
online
bank)
• What’s
the
most
useful
thing
about
using
this
method?
• What’s
the
more
difficult
part
about
using
this
method?
• [If
they
don’t
use
digital
methods
much]:
What
would
make
you
use
an
online
or
mobile
option
over
cash
or
checks?
• [If
they
use
digital
methods
often]:
For
those
people
who
still
don’t
use
digital
options,
what
do
you
think
would
make
them
consider
using
these
options?
How
would
you
convince
them?
• Let’s
say
that
I
am
a
new
customer
looking
for
the
best
way
to
pay
you,
how
would
you
guide
me
to
arrive
at
the
best
option
for
me?