Ranking: 5

Table 1: About ZainCash

Addressing a nation-wide deficit for financial inclusion

ZainCash is a mobile wallet, money transfer, electronic bill payment, funds disbursement service licensed by the Central Bank of Iraq. Around 89% of Iraq’s adult population do not have bank accounts, but mobile phone usage is almost ubiquitous among them. In addition, in a country prone to human disasters and conflicts, mobile phones have quickly become the main lifeline for many individuals to seek assistance. With a vast agent network that extends to camp areas and remote regions as well as extensive mobile coverage across Iraq, ZainCash is in the right place to provide its users with speedy and immediate access to funds.

Product Strategy: A shared-valued approach

ZainCash aims to promote financial inclusivity for the unbanked by providing an accessible and effective tool with a wide range of services for conducting financial transactions. It has also identified three key potential obstacles in its mission and has identified the following solutions to address them.

As the relationship between financial inclusion and socio-economic development is especially profound in Iraq, stakeholder engagement plays a crucial part in the company’s strategy. As such, ZainCash maintains a constant feedback loop with service and utility providers, NGOs, Aid Agencies and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) . This step allows it to deepen its financial ecosystem and gain feedback. By doing so, the business can improve its service further by tailoring it to fit its stakeholders’ needs.

Overview of the product stack at ZainCash

There is a concerted effort to make the retail and business banking as well as payment and travel features accessible and seamless. However, ZainCash focuses on maximising the efficiency of retail and business features related to funds disbursement. E-commerce and rewards schemes are also offered. Lending, wealth management and insurance remain notable unexplored opportunities.

3 Key Product Innovations

1. ZainCash App

ZainCash App is an electronic mobile payment app service that provides users with both secure and convenient means to help them conduct financial transactions and process monthly payments. Users can use this app on their mobile phone to pay bills, transfer money locally, top-up their mobile account, buy prepaid internet and voice balances, alongside many other features at any time and place.

Main services offered by this app include:

• Digital Vouchers
• Corporate
• Transfer money locally
• Pay bills
• Prepaid card purchases
• Cash deposit and withdrawal
• Group disbursement funds
• Reporting tools
• Remote QR and POS payments
• Online shopping
• eFAWATEERcom payments

Users who signed up for the app will also receive a free MasterCard, called the ‘WalletCard’. This card contains several features that a customer can use globally for e-commerce, POS payments and ATM withdrawals, online shopping and payments in two currencies.

2. EyePay

“Iris scan reinforces the dignity of the beneficiaries ensuring their identity through their iris and thus is fraud free. UNHCR is glad that Zain Cash is taking the lead in rolling out the use of iris scan technology in Iraq in cooperation with IrisGuard.”

Ayman Gharaibeh
UNHCR Iraq Representative

In 2019, ZainCash announced that it would introduce the EyePay® Cash platform, enabling refugees to cash out their financial assistance via iris identification. This feature is a secure financial delivery platform that replaces the use of traditional cards, PINs, usernames and passwords with retinal scanning to authenticate and authorise a fault-free transaction in less than three seconds. EyePay uses an IrisGuard imager to capture a greyscale image of the iris, converting it to a reliable and permanent Unique Verifiable Identity (UVI) that ZainCash utilises for cross-matching purposes. Numerous benefits include:

3. Cash Disbursement Solution

This feature is a specialised solution for NGOs and companies to disburse funds to beneficiaries. Through ZainCash, funds will go directly to a refugee’s or an IDP’s ZainCash account without the need for travelling to receive funds. Furthermore, this system protects against fraud by maintaining a user database for refugees and IDPs. By removing the need for putting staff at risk in distributing cash on the ground, this feature has become the primary tool for major organisations such as the UN and the Red Cross to distribute funds to vulnerable communities.

Table 2: Selected Partners

Recommendations

1. Develop lending, insurance and wealth management features

While the disbursement of funds has been the chief concern for ZainCash and its stakeholders, it can follow up on its success in this area by applying its expertise to offer services in lending, insurance and wealth management. Lending and credit services, for example, would empower SMEs by reducing barriers to entry.

2. Deepen integration with parent company

In addition, ZainCash can offer more features by deepening integration with its parent company. For instance, Zain Iraq already has its own unique “Salamtak” microinsurance program, which can be integrated into the ZainCash platform to offer more value-added services for users.

3. Increase community and stakeholder engagement

Educating people on the usage and benefits of mobile money will continue to be a challenge for ZainCash. This means that ZainCash must remain committed to investing in marketing and promotional campaigns to promote greater trust and awareness of its products. It should also deepen its engagement with stakeholders and collaborate to improve its products further and widen the reach of its ecosystem.

By having success in an environment as complex as Iraq, ZainCash has provided you with the perfect case study in leveraging a telco’s retail network to provide sustainable finance in dangerous and remote areas with minimal banking penetration.

Endnotes

Google Play Store, (n.d.). ZainCash.

Irisguard Ltd, (n.d.). ZainCash | Irisguard.

Zain Group, (2018, February). Thought Leadership report.