HARARE,- The value of transactions processed through the National Payment System (NPS) in the last week of October increased by 20 percent to $2 billion from $1,7 billion recorded in the previous week due to a surge in Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) transactions.
In a weekly report, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) said RTGS transactions went up 25 percent to $1,4 billion, accounting for 71 percent of the value of transactions processed through the NPS.
An acute shortage of bank notes in the southern African nation has forced Zimbabweans to resort to electronic means of payment.
Mobile-based transactions went up 15 percent to $369,49 million from $320,76 million while Point Of Sale (POS) were slightly down 1 percent from $218,56 million to $216,99 million.
Automated Teller Machine (ATM) transactions declined 10 percent from $4,63 million to $4,16 million.
Cheque transactions further declined 11 percent from $1,22 million to $1,08 million.
In terms of volumes, mobile based transactions accounted for 75 percent while POS took up 23,9 percent.
RTGS, ATMs and Cheque were at 0.55 percent, 0,41 percent and 0.02 respectively.