Banking (Money Transmission, Mobile Banking and Mobile Money Interoperability) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 (S.I. 17 of 2025)

Statutory Instrument 17 of 2025 amends the Banking (Money Transmission, Mobile Banking and Mobile Money Interoperability) Regulations, 2020 (S.I. 80 of 2020), which govern money transmission, mobile banking and mobile money interoperability in Zimbabwe. The 2020 Regulations transferred mobile money licensing to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, mandated interoperability across mobile banking and money-transmission services, and required providers to hold customer funds in segregated trust accounts. S.I. 17 of 2025 does not replace that framework; rather, it updates it. The principal change is the amendment of the First Schedule, which directly affects the licensing fees and procedural requirements applicable to new payment service providers, in practice revising the fee structure and certain application/processing conditions for entry into the money-transmission and mobile money market. The amendment leaves the substantive licensing, interoperability and customer-fund-protection obligations of S.I. 80 of 2020 in place while modernising the cost and procedural parameters of market entry, typically to reflect inflation, currency changes and administrative practice. As an amending instrument, S.I. 17 of 2025 must be read together with S.I. 80 of 2020 (which it amends) and within the framework of the Banking Act [Chapter 24:20] and the National Payment Systems Act [Chapter 24:23]. It is in force and is relevant to any new fintech entrant seeking a money-transmission or mobile money licence in Zimbabwe, as it determines the current fees and procedural requirements for licensing.

1. 1Amends the Banking (Money Transmission, Mobile Banking and Mobile Money Interoperability) Regulations, 2020 (S.I. 80 of 2020)
2. 2Revises the First Schedule, updating licensing fees and procedural requirements for new payment service providers
3. 3Leaves intact the substantive licensing, interoperability and segregated-trust-account requirements of S.I. 80 of 2020
4. 4Must be read together with S.I. 80 of 2020 and within the Banking Act [Chapter 24:20] framework
5. 5Relevant to current cost and procedural conditions for fintech market entry in Zimbabwe