By Gideon Madzikatidze/Simbarashe Sithole
HARARE – Dolphin Financial Services is moving to make cross-border remittances faster and simpler for Zimbabweans living abroad, as part of Dolphin Group’s wider push to build African blocks in countries where Zimbabweans are scattered, starting with South Africa.
The remittance push was outlined at Dolphin Group’s official Zimbabwe launch in Harare this Wednesday. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, Dolphin says it has grown to thousands of customers and plans to expand significantly through new connectivity options, wider distribution and partnerships with infrastructure and financial-services providers.
Speaking at the press conference, Mr Edmore Mtisi, the Dolphin Head Commercial Services said remittances are now the company’s next priority.
“Our next priority is cross-border remittance. We want to make it easier for people living abroad to send money home to Zimbabwe and support their families,” Mtisi said.
Dolphin said it plans to work with banking partners to enable instant bank settlements for supported transactions, subject to partner readiness and regulatory requirements.
At the centre of the strategy is Dolphin Pay, the company’s wallet and payments platform. Customers can use it to pay for Dolphin services by airtime, buy selected data vouchers, and fund their wallets through existing mobile wallets such as EcoCash or InnBucks. According to the Group, Dolphin Pay also enables customers to pay for Dolphin subscriptions, recharge their South African SIMs, purchase digital gift vouchers and send airtime to family and friends.
“Connectivity is one part of modern day life. Customers also want fast and simple ways to pay for services and access digital products,” Mtisi added.
Dolphin is also offering authorised foreign currency exchange through Dolphin Bureau de Change, which it describes as helping travellers to arrive ready to pay. The Group says further financial-services products are planned as it develops its regional offering.
“In addition to digital payments, Dolphin Financial Services includes the Bureau de Change service. This addresses a practical customer need, particularly for people travelling between Zimbabwe and South Africa,” he said.
“Just as a traveller needs mobile connectivity, they need access to appropriate currency for their journey. Through our services, we aim to make authorised foreign currency exchange more convenient and accessible,” Mtisi said.
The payments push is being paired with connectivity. Dolphin has already launched data-only SIM cards and Fixed Wireless Access services for homes and small and medium-sized businesses in Zimbabwe. As part of its expanded offering, it will also provide a mobile SIM card with the 0751 prefix, supporting voice calls, SMS and mobile data.
The next phase will broaden the offering through additional wireless connectivity, particularly in areas where fibre is unavailable. Dolphin also intends to work with infrastructure providers to extend last-mile connectivity from existing networks into homes and business premises, including underserved communities.
In South Africa, Dolphin operates as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator through the Dolphin SA SIM, with a focus on migrants and travellers. Customers can arrange their connectivity before departure and stay connected after arrival. The Group plans to extend that proposition to people travelling to or relocating to South Africa from more African countries.
“With Dolphin South Africa, we want travellers to arrive connected. With Dolphin Bureau de Change, we want them to arrive ready to pay,” he said.
“Together these services reflect our understanding of the customer journey. We do not simply look at individual products. We look at the real life challenges our customers are trying to solve,” Mtisi said.
Asked what makes Dolphin different in a crowded telecommunications and financial services market, the representative pointed to its customer-focused model.
“Our answer lies in our customer-focused business model, flexible solutions and the opportunity to bring complementary services together,” he said.
“A customer should not have to view communication, connectivity, travel preparations and digital payments as completely unrelated experiences. A traveller can get a Dolphin South Africa SIM before departure,” Mtisi said.
Dolphin said its expansion across Africa is driven by following its customers, not just entering new markets.