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Midlands Correspondent
BUSINESS lobby group, the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), has challenged the Government to take the lead in the usage of plastic money.

Plastic money refers to cashless transactions through the use of various types of cards like debit cards among others.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is targeting 80 percent usage of plastic money in the next five years to ease the cash challenges being experienced in the economy.

ZNCC Midlands Region chairman, Julian Mashavakure, said there is a need for Government to set up point of sale machines (POS) at its departments which collect revenue on a daily basis such as the Registrar General’s Office and Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) among others.

“There has been improvement (in plastic money usage) in the retail sector mainly but we’re saying government has to take a leading role.

‘‘Firstly, in all government departments we expect to see the POS machines as a start and that would then encourage everyone to actually follow suit,” he said.

Mashavakure said despite recent reviews of bank charges by financial institutions, the charges were still high to encourage the usage of plastic money.

He, however, urged businesses not to use international cards such as Visa and MasterCard while transacting locally as this has pushed the cost of doing business high.

According to ZNCC, there has been a 400 percent increase in the usage of plastic money especially in the retail sector.

However, plastic money still accounts for less than 10 percent of all business transactions.

The Zimbabwe National Road Administration is among a few government departments which has introduced POS machines at all tollgates and plans to introduce pre-paid toll fee cards while urban councils have also installed electronic payment systems, enabling ratepayers to settle bills using debit cards and bank transfers.