Innbucks is migrating its mobile platform to a new technology provider called Mambu. According to a press release, the move is “part of its transformation from a digital wallet solution to a fully integrated digital bank.”

With an estimated 3 million subscribers, Innbucks has quickly become one of Zimbabwe’s largest digital wallets, the largest being EcoCash, with 8.35 million subscribers. (The customer base of another key player, OMari, remains unclear, though it’s likely smaller than Innbucks.)

Anyway, the Innbucks & Mambu release says this is about technology that can scale rapidly locally as well as laying a foundation to expand its services across Africa. It makes sense that Innbucks is already thinking beyond Zimbabwe. Simbisa Brands, the group that owns Innbucks, has operations in Kenya and Eswatini, as well as franchise presence in Zambia, DRC, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia and Mauritius.

Innbucks Chief Technology Officer Langa Mlalaz said the switch is also about launching new products for customers:

“Partnering with Mambu marks a turning point in our journey to becoming a full-scale digital bank. Their platform will allow us to scale rapidly, reduce operational costs, and most importantly, offer innovative financial products that meet the evolving needs of our customers across Africa.”

It will be interesting to see what new features and products Innbucks customers will get in the future, and whether the cost savings mentioned will lead to lower transaction fees.

The release also mentions that the new Innbucks cloud-based banking system will run on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Who is Mambu?

Mambu is not a small player globally. Large brands such as Western Union and South Africa’s Tyme Bank use their banking technology platform. Mambu has operations in some 65+ countries.

Going through their site, I wondered how much experience Mambu has providing systems in countries like Zimbabwe, where connectivity to the internet by end-users should not be assumed at all. They seem to have no office in Africa at all.

We don’t know what system Innbucks was running on before this. If you do, please let us know in the comments below. Our assumption so far is that it was built internally. And to take that speculation a step further, it’s interesting how Innbucks is reducing costs by outsourcing the core tech, while another digital wallet provider says they are reducing costs by building internally.

At the end of the day, it’s about how we, the customers, experience the service. In the coming months, we will get a sense of which wallet is better.

Or will we continue using them all, depending on the transaction and promos? To paraphrase what one executive in this sector said to me recently, “Mobile money customers are quite promiscuous, ready to run off to the competitor for promos at any time.”

Personally, I hope this means Innbucks will finally have an option for online payments and that their Mastercard/Visa just works.