Mobile money transactions hit a record Shs113.38Trn in Financial Year 2020/21, the Bank of Uganda 2021 Annual report has revealed.
The Central Bank Governor Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile says that in accordance with the provisions of the National Payment Systems Act 2020, each of the companies received a Payment Systems Operator (large funds transfer) license and a Payment Service Provider.
“The value of Mobile Money transactions increased by 42.26 percent to Shs113.38Trn (in 2020/21) from Shs79.7 trillion, while the volume of transactions increased by Shs730M to Shs3.89Bn. The upward trend was attributed to the increased usage of the mobile money digital platform to mitigate the COVID19 risks associated of handling paper money,” the report says.
Bank of Uganda also revealed that the number of active mobile money users increased to 21.18 million during the year under review when compared to 17.5 million recorded the previous year.
Following the enactment of the National Payment Systems Act 2020, it the first time Bank of Uganda has a legal instrument upon which it is regulating mobile money, since the inception in 2009 and currently, the Central Bank has licensed MTN Uganda Limited and Airtel Uganda Limited to operate mobile money services after closure of business by Africell.
Bank of Uganda informed all Customers of Africell to go and reclaim their funds from Stanbic Bank within three months and after the period elapses, the money will revert back to the Central Bank, where customers who fail to beat this deadline would make claim of their funds through Bank of Uganda.
