THE People’s Own Savings Bank has launched Huruyadzo/Inkunzi, a mobile-based group savings platform, as it moves to enhance financial inclusion and provision of safe financial services to everyone.
Huruyadzo/Inkunzi builds on the way Zimbabweans already live, save and support one another, while providing a safer and more secure way to do so within today’s modern financial system.
The initiative reflects POSB’s commitment to creating a platform that can reach people across the country and make group saving safer and easier for everyone.
According to POSB, the initiative aligns with the Government’s Vision 2030, which seeks to enhance financial inclusion, build an upper-middle-income economy while ensuring that no one and no place is left behind.
Huruyadzo/Inkunzi represents a bold and transformative solution with national reach, designed to redefine how Zimbabweans save collectively.
Speaking on behalf of the POSB chief executive officer, Mr Garainashe Changunda, POSB divisional director for retail banking, Mr Lawrence Kupika, said the platform is designed to meet the savings needs of all Zimbabweans.
“Huruyadzo/Inkunzi is a transformative innovation aimed at strengthening and safeguarding the way Zimbabweans already save together. By formalising Mukando securely and transparently, we ensure that no individual can jeopardise a group’s hard-earned savings without collective approval,” said Mr Changunda.
Zimbabwe has a strong tradition of saving in groups, commonly known as Mukando, which has helped families and communities pool money for school fees, businesses, and support in times of need.
However, in recent years, some groups have lost money due to theft, dishonesty and mistrust when people entrusted with a group’s savings disappear with the pooled funds.
The platform was developed to address these risks by formalising group savings while preserving the communal ethos.
Mr Changunda highlighted the platform’s wide accessibility, noting that it can be used by both the banked and the unbanked individuals.
“What truly sets Huruyadzo/Inkunzi apart is its accessibility. Anyone with a basic mobile phone can use the service — no smartphone, internet connection, or POSB account is required,” he said.
The platform introduces transparency, shared control, and accountability, ensuring that no individual can access or withdraw funds without the knowledge and consent of other group members.
Savings on the platform earn interest, helping groups grow their money over time.
There are also no monthly service fees, demonstrating POSB’s commitment to encouraging a culture of saving in line with the bank’s transformation agenda, which also aims to shift the Bank from being product-centric to customer-centric.
According to POSB, the initiative also supports the bank’s transformation agenda, which is focusing on shifting from a product-centric to a customer-centric model.
“At POSB, financial inclusion is more than a slogan—it is our mandate. Huruyadzo/Inkunzi reinforces our mission to serve every Zimbabwean and to make group saving safer, smarter, and more rewarding,” said Changunda.
The platform advances the financial inclusion drive by providing secure savings solutions for the unbanked and underbanked, including informal traders, civil servants, churches, burial societies, farmers, savings clubs, and other community-based groups.
Members can be invited to join a savings group and leadership roles such as chairperson, secretary and Treasurer are assigned digitally, with each invitee able to accept or decline participation.
