We’ve just wrapped up the opening sessions of the Zimswitch Digital Connect Symposium here in Nyanga, and one message is already loud and clear:Zimbabwe’s banks have to collaborate if the digital payments ecosystem is going to grow.From Zimswitch CEO Zabron Chilakalaka to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Amon Chitsva and the panel of industry executives, everyone agrees, there’s no way forward without working together.
But there’s a catch: banks are also in direct competition with each other. And as today’s conversations made clear, collaboration sounds good on paper, but the realities on the ground, policy, costs, and customer behaviour, make it complicated.
The consensus in the room today is that no single bank can solve this alone. Zimswitch, regulators, and financial institutions will need to coordinate their strategies, not just on technology, but also on pricing, interoperability, and incentives that actually make sense for everyday Zimbabweans.