Zamtel, Catholic Church partner in digital payments

The Catholic Church has announced a partnership with Zamtel that will see its over 6 million members across Zambia use Zamtel Mobile Money services to send their contributions to the Church.

The partnership will involve the facilitation of payments such as Sunday offering, tithe and other church contributions by the parishioners through Zamtel Mobile Money platform.

Zamtel will under the partnership provide its products to parishioners at various catholic premises across the Country and will also connect with the church membership through the various Catholic run media platforms such as Loyola TV, Lumen TV, Loyola and several radio stations.

Zamtel Chief Executive Officer Sydney Mupeta and Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops Communications Secretary and CEO of Catholic Media Services Father Winfield Kunda signed on behalf of the Church.

Mr Mupeta added that the step taken by the Catholic Church in Zambia to embrace digital solutions is a huge milestone and sets the tone for a steady introduction of digital processes such as electronic contribution of offertory and other financial pledges.

“I am indeed elated that the Catholic Church has chosen to take a front-foot forward and champion the Digital agenda through this partnership. We are confident that as we embark on this journey, we shall continue to explore other digital solutions which will benefit both the church and its members,” Mr Mupeta said.

“The Catholic Church has presence all over the Country with over 6.0 million members in all Provinces including the remotest parts of the Country. Some of the areas where the church is founded have had no telecommunication services for a number of years until recently when Zamtel through the GRZ project rolled-out sites to most parts of the rural areas in the Country. We are therefore confident that as we embark on this partnership, the church through our wide network coverage will be able to connect with its membership, especially in the rural parts of the Country,” he said.

Mr Mupeta is confident that under this partnership, the Church parishioners in the remotest parts of Zambia will find the use of Zamtel Mobile Money a very convenient avenue for their monetary contributions to the Church.

And Fr Kunda said the agreements has immense benefits to the Church and its members as it will bring help connect the Church to its 6 million members in Zambia.

Fr. Kunda said parishioners who cannot attend mass physically due to Covid-19 restrictions can still make their contributions to the Church using Zamtel Mobile Money.

Source: Zamtel