Fintech innovation: Mukuru launches drive-thru service

The leading Southern African fintech Mukuru has launched a first-of-its-kind drive-thru service in Chisipite, Harare, to make financial services more accessible to people in Zimbabwe. It is based in one of ten sites for domestic and international money transfers launched across the region.

“We continuously shift our focus to innovative ways that make financial services more accessible for the people of Zimbabwe and those in the diaspora,” says Marc Carrie-Wilson, Mukuru’s country director.

“As we increase our footprint in the country, we explored various innovative ideas to push the envelope and challenge the type of locations that we have as a financial services company. Safety remains a top priority for us, and the drive-thru idea proved to be the safest and most convenient option for our customers.”

The Chisipite drive-thru is open from 07:00 to 19:00 daily, including public holidays, and has a walk-in option for customers who wish to register or visit the location on foot.

“We hope that the new drive-thru service will bring convenience to our customers,” says Carrie-Wilson. “Out of the ten new locations, Chisipite is the only drive-thru at the moment, but we hope to launch one in Bulawayo in the next phase.”

Mukuru’s innovation has been demonstrated in the series of services it has launched in the past few months to build a diverse product offering for customers. These include partnerships with Multichoice to make paying for DStv more convenient and with Bereka to deliver money transfers directly to customers across Zimbabwe.

“We have seen how well these collaborations work in our ongoing partnership with wholesaler Metro Peech & Browne, who make purchasing groceries, stationery and appliances more convenient for people in Zimbabwe who use our platform,” adds Carrie-Wilson.

Mukuru is billed as a next-generation financial services platform in Southern Africa that offers affordable and reliable financial services to a customer base of over 13 million across Africa, Asia and Europe.

“Our core was built providing international money transfers and from this base, we’ve developed a set of services to address the broader financial needs of our customers,” says Carrie-Wilson. “We now operate in over 50 countries and across over 300 remittance corridors.”

Mukuru has been listed as one of the top 100 cross-border payments businesses in the world in the 2022 FXC Intelligence Top 100 Cross-Border Payment Companies. Clients are served across physical and digital channels, by various payment methods (cash, card and wallet) as well as a range of engagement platforms, including WhatsApp, amongst others.

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