A guide on how to pay for Streaming Services like Netflix in Zimbabwe

What are Music and Video Streaming Platforms

As technology advanced it was seen that publishing music and video content such as Movies and Anime physically was not sufficient. This led to the rise of platforms such as Spotify, Netflix, Deezer and Crunchyroll.

How to pay for music and video streaming plaforms from Zimbabwe

A lot of us Zimbabweans sometimes bump into these apps but abandom them as soon as they start talking about subscriptions and online payments. Actually, we don’t have to see this as a hurdle. It’s actually very simple and cheap to make an online payment, all you need is a MasterCard or VISA and I’ll tell you how to get one for yourself.

The simplest way to make online payments is through Econet’s Ecocash MasterCard which you can literally register in a matter of seconds through the following steps:

1. Have an active USD Ecocash Account (If you have a ZWL Ecocash Account you automatically also have the USD Waller)
2. Fund your USD Ecocash Account with at least US$1 (You can do this by cashing in at any Ecocash Agent)
3. Dial *153# on your phone
4. After entering your pin Select the options 7, 6, 2, and 1 respectivelly
5. Finally you will receive a sms message from Econet containing you MasterCard Number and and CVC which you should not share with anyone

Now that you have Econet’s Virtual Debit MasterCard which works just like a physical one, all you need to do is enter the Card Number and CVC after selecting MasterCard as your payment option. You can proceed to link this Card to a PayPal account for more secure and transparent transactions as Econet only tells you the amount used from your card without details of where it went

Other Methods of making online payments in Zimbabwe

Apart from the Ecocash Virtual Debit MasterCard you can also make online payments using a VISA or MasterCard obtained from a Bank. Also every bank supports VISA Cards with a few supporting only MasterCards

The process of acquiring a card from a bank is sometimes exausting because of all the paperwork needed such as passport photos, proof of income, proof of residence, copy of ID etc. This varies with the bank but personally I would recommend using the NMB VISA if you choose to use a bank even though Ecocash is much simpler.

Note that some online products are very specific about their payment methods so its best to have one of each of the following:

• A MasterCard (Ecocash or FBC)
• A VISA (NMB)
• A PayPal Account

With these three you can pay for any online product unless the product is not avialable for purchase in Zimbabwe