THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) will soon introduce shared point of sale machines (POS), which will see up to 10 operators sharing a single gadget, each with a personalised code.

The Deputy RBZ Governor, Dr Kupukile Mlambo, said this was one of the many strategies the apex bank was employing to mitigate foreign currency shortages caused by externalisation.

He called on all businesses in the country to open bank accounts so that cash can circulate locally and stressed the need to link the informal sector with the formal sector as well as monitoring business against a three-tier pricing system. Dr Mlambo said these measures should be complemented by increasing export-driven production and embracing use of plastic money.

"Let’s use plastic money because cash is a problem. We are planning to increase use of POS machines in the informal sector. We are going to have some being used by 10 users but all with different pin codes. We are looking into that. We have compelled a lot of companies that don’t have bank accounts to open one."