You have to check your EcoCash DM’s now?

It’s been three weeks since EcoCash launched their new “Super App” variant of their existing mobile app, with new features both big and small built to make the overall EcoCash experience better, but also launch a legitimate push to make EcoCash an actual “super app” like the likes of WeChat in China. And well, does the app succeed at that? It might be to early to tell, but it’s definitely a welcome upgrade in general, that will probably have people asking “why does  EcoCash look like Twitter now?”. Let’s dig in and find out in this review.

What’s new: Quality of life features plus… A social network?!

Again, the EcoCash Super App is clearly tailored at both improving and upgrading the pre-existing EcoCash mobile app, which at first glance can seem like doing basically nothing besides adding a dark mode theme. But there genuinely are some improvements here. General user flows and functions seem to perform better. The app seems a little faster, and certain functions that were glitchy or broken in the original app (for example, sending money to O’Mari) are fixed and far more reliable. It also adds other quality of life features like remembering not just frequent EcoCash users you send money too, but those of other platforms like banks and InnBucks users as well. This all seems minor at first, but it does make the app usually more preferable to use than the old EcoCash app, which I’ve been using right next to it for control. It makes one wonder why these updates aren’t on the main app, but there are obvious reasons as to why that isn’t happening, which we’ll go into later.

Then there’s the new “Explore” section on the app icons, and well, if you’ve ever seen a 2019 Twitter feed or something akin to Meta’s Threads app, you’ve seen this too. EcoCash figured that since it has all this data of people who use its apps, and people tend to trade and advertise on social media these days, why doesn’t it just basically make a mini social network within the EcoCash app itself? The Explore page literally gives you an ongoing feed of people seemingly posting about whatever they want, along with the ability to of course, open a specific user’s page, see what they post about, follow them, etc. It’s a basic social media app, flaws and all, though thankfully most people seemingly focus on posting about jokes, advertising, and general PG-13 follower farming behaviour. After all, the last thing you want is to have to filter through internet gossip on your EcoCash of all things.

But the question still remains, why would EcoCash do this? After all, some would argue mobile money apps are basically more accessible bank apps, not fledgling social media brands. But again, it comes down to the economic value of super apps and their golden boy, WeChat. China’s juggernaut chat app is literally what many have called the country’s operating system, and that’s because when it comes to smartphones in China, the most important thing isn’t whether you buy an iPhone or Android device, but whether you can use WeChat. An insane percentage of the country’s communications, news, and, of course, online commerce and businesses is literally built around WeChat, and EcoCash wants to replicate that here. Their parent company, Econet, already tried this with Sasai, trying to introduce a new chat app with trade and monetary functions in a market already dominated by WhatsApp.

It failed dismally, but clearly this time they’re trying again, using the necessity of EcoCash as the main reason you get the app, and building social features around it in order to make the app more and more like WeChat. It also seems like this is why the new EcoCash Super App has bug fixes that the regular EcoCash app doesn’t have. Almost as if it’s meant to be the standard, while the old app might be maintained for a little while before getting shut down. If this is the plan, I’m personally not a fan of it as some people just want EcoCash for its monetary value, rather than a cobbled-together social platform.

It also creates an app that’s stuck in the middle, as even now, some of the ideas on the app feel incomplete and not thought through. For example, there’s a simple chat function. Seems pretty obvious what that is for, but it’s also the preferred notifications center for some notifications in the app, despite a dedicated notifications area also existing as well. That means if someone who specifically has the super app sends me money, I get a notification in the chat area, then also get a second notification in the notifications area. This means two notifications of the same thing, which honestly can be at best a little confusing, at worst, outright annoying. I understand why EcoCash is trying this idea, but it shows a form of being stuck between optimizing for social interactions and just trying to tell someone that their money is here. The same limitations even go into things like minimizing the app when you receive a call. If this was Instagram or X/Twitter, you simply go into your call, cut it, then re-open the app and continue where you left off. With EcoCash, however, even if I was checking out a social page, if I leave the app for a call or quick multi-tasking like checking a number I haven’t saved, I have to put in a pin or biometric authentication like a fingerprint when I come back to the app. This isn’t the biggest inconvenience, after all, most modern phones can scan your fingerprint pretty easily and you’ll be back to scrolling, but for a social media app, aka an app that ideally should be designed to farm your attention span that can be literal seconds, adding the extra layer of biometric verification makes the app less interesting to use for social media reasons. And it’s unacceptable to remove those protections because this is STILL a mobile money app filled with people’s funds, of course, things have to be locked down! But it shows the biggest delta in how these two different types of apps work, and why those ideologies clash.

So, should EcoCash shut this thing down or stop developing it? Well no. But they are definitely going to need to continue thinking through what this app should be, where to draw the lines between social media app and wallet, and how to make both sides as great to use as possible. For example, if EcoCash wants its social features to blow up, is it going to start implementing standard social media app practices? Will it start creating and supporting influencers, for example, who could promote using the app and connecting through it. Will it build specific features like groups and communities that businesses can leverage to make more sales? Heck, is EcoCash even moderating this app? This is omething we’ve actually asked them, but haven’t received a reply on because sure, right now everyone seems to be playing nicely and behaving on the app, but what happens when more controversial businesses or figures want to use the app to gain customers? Will a sex worker be able to post pictures that are obviously meant for mature audiences? And why doesn’t the financial side of the app allow for other features that wallet apps in the world have, for example, being a secure ID vault for a passport or driver’s license? There are ways for both sides of this app to grow and become as “Super” as EcoCash would like it to be. But taking it to that stage will require a very clear thought and design process that even the best software firms in the world fail to master sometimes.

Either way, when it comes down to it, EcoCash’s Super App isn’t bad at all, in fact, it’s a good improvement over the basic app, as long as you don’t touch that Explore page. But EcoCash obviously wants you to. And if that’s the case, they should improve all aspects of the app in order to really make it “Super”. Here’s to seeing where they go next with the app. Best of luck EcoCash.

(P.S. Just change the name to EcoCash Super; the “App” part isn’t necessary.)

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