Reimagining the Future of Payments: Introducing Smile Cash and Smile & Pay
At ZB Financial Holdings, our strategic focus is anchored on innovation that delivers impactful, convenient , and future-ready financial solutions. As the world of finance continues to evolve rapidly, so too must be the ways in which we meet the changing needs of the customers. Today marks a significant step forward in our digital transformation journey — the launch of Smile Cash and Smile & Pay, two purpose-built digital-twin solutions that redefine convenience, accessibility, and inclusivity in the payments space.
This is not simply the unveiling of two digital tools — it is the beginning of a fintech movement explosion. A movement toward a more connected, more inclusive economy. A financial revolution where individuals, SMEs, corporates, and communities alike can transact with confidence, simplicity, and security. These platforms are engineered to meet the expectations of the modern digital customer while solving long-standing inefficiencies in Zimbabwe’s financial system.
Smile Cash: More Than a Wallet — A Financial Ecosystem
Smile Cash is not just another wallet; it is an integrated payments platform designed with versatility and impact at its core. It supports a broad array of services, including:
• Remittance Solutions that facilitate easy access to funds sent via Money Transfer Agencies (MTAs), whether local or international.
• Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Transactions: Our platform allows users to exchange value effortlessly — paying builders, plumbers, housekeepers, and drivers safely and directly.
• Merchant Solutions: Customers can pay for goods and services across a wide network of merchants, making shopping experiences faster and more secure.
• Debt and Loan Solutions: We provide advanced debt collection mechanisms, including automated recurrent payments and SMS payment reminders, improving revenue collection for businesses.
• Financial Inclusion Focus: By offering Low KYC (Know Your Customer) account options at a low cost, Smile Cash ensures even the underserved populations gain access to critical financial services.
• Ecosystem Leverage: Smile Cash is uniquely designed to interact with other fintech platforms — both upstream (sending funds to platforms like EcoCash or Omari for merchant payments) and downstream (receiving funds from platforms to use ZB’s integrations for services like DSTV subscriptions or school fee payments).
• Request payments with ease: Send a payment link to friends, family, or businesses and get paid seamlessly through their preferred local or international payment method [Ecocash, InnBucks, Omari, Smile Cash, Zimswitch, Visa and Mastercard].
• Zero Rated: Close to zero transaction charges on the Smile Cash Customers.
With these functionalities, Smile Cash is positioned as a foundational tool for driving financial inclusion, economic empowerment, and transactional efficiency at all levels of society.
Smile & Pay Powering the digital Economy
Powering Smile Cash is Smile & Pay, our next-generation payment gateway. It is built to facilitate seamless, secure, and scalable digital payments for businesses of all sizes. As e-commerce accelerates globally and locally, Smile & Pay enables merchants to not only keep pace but gain a competitive edge.
Key features of Smile & Pay include:
• Multi-Channel Payments — accepting Visa, Mastercard, ZimSwitch, EcoCash, Innbucks, Omari, and Smile Cash.
• Pay by Link — allowing businesses to invoice and receive payments instantly via links sent to customers.
• Merchant settings feature — allowing businesses to customise their payment setups to suit their business needs- giving them full control and flexibility over how they get paid by their customers.
• Advanced Analytics and Reporting — giving merchants real-time insights for smarter decision-making.
Our Smile & Pay Payment Gateway offers businesses a competitive edge by delivering a seamless, secure, and highly flexible payment experience. It supports multiple payment methods, enhances customer satisfaction, and boosts sales potential through increased reach and convenience. With automated processing, robust security, and real-time analytics, businesses can streamline operations, reduce administrative burdens, and make data-driven decisions. Customisable features and multi-channel support ensure tailored solutions that improve cash flow management and meet the diverse needs of today’s digital economy.
Our Distinctive Advantage
Being a late entrant to the digital payments space has allowed ZB to study existing solutions, identify their limitations, and design purpose-built alternatives. Unlike many players in the market, ZB owns the intellectual property behind Smile Cash and Smile & Pay — enabling us to innovate freely, and deliver competitively priced, scalable offerings. Our plug and play architecture supports easy integration with third-party platforms and rapid deployment of new features. For instance, we are developing SACCO and community-based financial solutions to empower cooperatives, savings groups, and social enterprises — all within Smile & Pay’s secure digital framework.
The Future Is Now
At ZB, we believe digital financial services should not be a privilege for a few, but a utility for all. The launch of Smile Cash and Smile & Pay underscores our commitment to a future where payments are not only fast and secure but also inclusive, affordable, and adaptive.
I invite individuals, entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporates, and communities to join us on this journey. The future of payments has arrived — and at ZB Financial Holdings, we are proud to be building it.
Kangai Maukazuva
Chief Transformation Officer
