Thank you to everyone who participated in our savings behavior poll. We asked how you mostly save your money, and the results reveal critical insights about trust, currency preferences, and financial behavior in Zimbabwe’s unique economic environment.
Poll Question: How do you mostly save your money?
Total votes: 297
Poll Results:
USD cash at home → 153 votes (51.5%)
I do not save → 58 votes (19.5%)
Mukando (savings club) → 33 votes (11.1%)
EcoCash → 16 votes (5.4%)
Bank account → 15 votes (5.1%)
Innbucks/Omari/Other mobile wallet → 11 votes (3.7%)
Bitcoin/Crypto → 9 votes (3.0%)
USD cash in bank safe deposit box → 2 votes (0.7%)
Key Findings:
Cash at Home Dominates: An overwhelming 51.5% save in USD cash at home, showing that despite security risks, physical cash remains the most trusted savings method for Zimbabweans.
High Non-Savers Rate: Nearly one in five (19.5%) do not save at all, indicating significant portions of the population live paycheck to paycheck or lack disposable income for savings.
Traditional Savings Clubs Thrive: Mukando at 11.1% shows that informal community-based savings remain more popular than formal banking, reflecting trust in social networks over institutions.
Banking Severely Underutilized: Only 5.1% primarily save in bank accounts, revealing a massive trust deficit in Zimbabwe’s formal banking sector.
Digital Wallets Lag: Despite widespread mobile money usage for transactions, only 5.4% use EcoCash and 3.7% use other mobile wallets for savings, showing people distinguish between transaction tools and savings vehicles.
Crypto Remains Niche: At 3.0%, cryptocurrency adoption for savings remains minimal despite global trends and Zimbabwe’s currency challenges.
Understanding the Cash-at-Home Preference:
Why 51.5% Choose USD Cash at Home:
Trust Deficit: Zimbabwe’s history of bank failures, frozen accounts, and currency collapses has created deep institutional distrust. People feel safer with cash they can see and touch.
Immediate Access: Cash at home provides instant liquidity for emergencies without bank queues, system downtimes, or withdrawal limits.
Currency Preservation: USD cash maintains its value while local currency and even digital balances can be subject to devaluation or forced conversion.
No Fees or Charges: Keeping cash at home avoids bank charges, transaction fees, and minimum balance requirements that erode savings.
Privacy: Cash savings remain private from authorities, institutions, and even family members who might have access to bank statements or mobile money records.
The Risks People Accept:
Despite choosing cash at home, savers face significant risks including theft, fire, loss, no interest earnings, and temptation to spend. The fact that 51.5% accept these risks rather than use formal banking reveals how deeply trust has been broken.
Business Insights:
Banking Sector Crisis: The mere 5.1% using bank accounts for savings represents a catastrophic failure of Zimbabwe’s banking sector to build customer trust and provide value that outweighs perceived risks.
Opportunity for Financial Services: Any institution that can rebuild trust, offer genuine USD accounts with guaranteed access, and provide security could capture significant market share from the 51.5% keeping cash at home.
Mukando Shows Alternative Trust Models: The 11.1% using savings clubs demonstrates that Zimbabweans do trust collective savings mechanisms when built on personal relationships and social accountability rather than institutional guarantees.
Mobile Money Misses Savings Market: While mobile money succeeds for transactions, the low adoption for savings (5.4% EcoCash, 3.7% other wallets) shows these platforms have not convinced users they are safe for storing value long-term.
What Different Savings Behaviors Reveal:
The 51.5% Cash-at-Home Group:
– Prioritize control and access over security and returns
– Have experienced or fear institutional failures
– Value independence from financial systems
– Accept physical risks to avoid institutional risks
The 19.5% Non-Savers:
– May lack sufficient income to save
– Could be living month-to-month
– Might have financial obligations that consume all income
– Represent a vulnerable population without financial cushion
The 11.1% Mukando Users:
– Trust social networks and community accountability
– Value forced discipline that savings clubs provide
– Benefit from social pressure to maintain contributions
– Often target specific goals (school fees, groceries, emergencies)
The Formal Savers (5.1% banks, 5.4% EcoCash, 3.7% other wallets):
– Either have positive banking experiences or different risk perceptions
– May have smaller amounts where convenience outweighs risks
– Fear theft at home and other physical risks of keeping cash (fire, loss, family access)
– Could be using multiple savings methods with formal being secondary
The 3.0% Crypto Savers:
– Tech-savvy early adopters
– Seeking alternatives to both cash and traditional banking
– Accept volatility risk for potential upside
– Value decentralization and control
What This Means:
The dominance of USD cash savings at home reveals a population that has fundamentally lost faith in formal financial institutions. This is not irrational behavior – it reflects lived experience with bank failures, frozen accounts, currency conversions, and broken promises.
However, this situation also represents enormous vulnerability. The 51.5% keeping cash at home have no fraud protection, earn no interest, and risk total loss from theft or disaster. They are essentially paying a high opportunity cost to avoid perceived institutional risk.
The 19.5% who do not save at all face even greater vulnerability, lacking any financial buffer for emergencies or opportunities.
Key Takeaway:
Zimbabwe’s savings landscape reflects deep institutional distrust rather than financial illiteracy. People understand the risks of keeping cash at home but judge them preferable to formal banking risks. The dominance of USD cash savings, combined with the popularity of informal savings clubs over banks, shows that Zimbabweans want to save but on their own terms and with control over their money.
For financial institutions, this data is both a warning and an opportunity. The warning is that traditional banking has catastrophically failed to maintain customer trust. The opportunity is that 51.5% of savers have money but nowhere safe to put it that they trust. Any institution that can genuinely guarantee USD deposit safety, provide unrestricted access, charge reasonable fees, and rebuild trust through consistent performance could capture massive market share.
The challenge is not creating financial products – it is rebuilding trust after decades of institutional failures. Until that happens, Zimbabweans will continue hiding cash under mattresses despite knowing the risks, because institutional risk still feels greater than physical risk.
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