Ecocash unveiled Ecocash Junior Wallet last week and honestly, it is one of those products that you learn about and go “how come this was not a thing?” Ecocash Junior Wallet is such a sensible product it is a surprise we did not have this all along. Ecocash Junior Wallet is targeted at youths between the ages of 9-18 years. There is no mystery or any need to explain here it is Ecocash for those who cannot legally get Ecocash because they do not yet have an ID simple. Creating an Ecocash Junior Wallet for your child is simple and easy too which is another reason why you should do it.

How to create a wallet for your child?

You do not need a wand or magic robe to do this as there is no complicated wizardry involved. All you need is an Ecocash account yourself. With us being Zimbabweans almost everyone has an Ecocash account. If you have an account all you need to do is:

Decide whether you want to create a Zimbabwean dollar wallet or a USD wallet.
For the ZWL wallet, you need to dial *151# and for the USD wallet, you need to dial *153#. in other words, you need to login into your own Ecocash account.
Select Option 5 which allows you to create the Junior wallet.
Enter your child’s information when prompted. This will include their first name, date of birth, identification number and phone number
Confirm the details and your child’s Ecocash Junior Wallet is activated.
Visit https://selfcare.ecocash.co.zw and upload your child’s documents to the web portal. If you do not do this your child’s account will eventually be deactivated

So why should you do it?

Mobile money which in Zimbabwe means Ecocash is very much a part of our lives. Whereas most parents grew up in a cash world today at least half of the transactions out there are electronic. Instead of you handing over your phone to your child whenever you send them to buy something you can just put the money in their Junior wallet. It’s a transaction that will hopefully not involve fees or the IMT tax.

You can just get two phones with Ecocash and give your child one but remember you are now only allowed to have one Ecocash account from the previous limit of three. The RBZ reduced the number in a decree. A junior wallet allows your child who might be below 18 to have an account of their own. The Junior wallet also comes with certain features that are unique to it such as allowing you to view your child’s transactions and exert other forms of control on the account. On the other hand, your child gets a bit of financial independence and learns about personal finance.

What are the limits like?

This being a junior wallet you can expect there to be limits that are more restrictive than those of the normal wallet. However given what people earn the limits appear adequate.

For payments, the limits are $35 000 ZwL per day capped at a total of $240 000 ZWL per month. Civil servants earn far less than this so you can be sure that this is more than enough for most people although you cannot buy uncapped internet using this most students/youths are probably going to be buying bundles only and leave the buying of uncapped internet connections to their parents
For the USD wallet, the limits are US$175 per day capped at US$700 per month. Again that is more than enough.

NB. We do not yet know what the tariffs are like. You can expect that to be like the normal wallet charges at most but there are probably exceptions to transactions involving you and your child.