{"id":3339,"date":"2021-05-25T20:30:26","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T20:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ugandaupdatenews.com\/?p=3339"},"modified":"2021-05-25T20:30:33","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T20:30:33","slug":"will-bou-supervising-mobile-money-stop-the-cruel-2-loss-by-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/will-bou-supervising-mobile-money-stop-the-cruel-2-loss-by-users\/","title":{"rendered":"Will BoU Supervising Mobile Money Stop the Cruel 2% Loss by Users?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bank of Uganda has taken the bold, necessary step to take over supervision of the mobile money operations in the country. Accordingly, BoU has issued operating licenses to MTN and Airtel under the National Payment Systems Act 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move was indeed overdue, possibly an oversight occasioned by the hasty manner in which mobile money was introduced in the country. But BoU had to wait for the proper legal framework under which to take over the role of supervising mobile money operators and thus regulate the mobile money operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Uganda Communication Commission did not have the expertise, nor the mandate to supervise the huge money transfer operations by the two main mobile telephone operators, which everyday -move bigger amounts of money than the commercial banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that the central bank has taken over the supervision and regulation of the mobile money sector, Ugandans can hope for two practical changes over which they have been and continue to suffer a lot of pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, the mobile money lending function if operated at exorbitant rates. Much as it is a free market of willing buyer and willing seller, BoU has the responsibility of formerly guiding the lending rates in the country, that is why it periodically issues the CBR, which the commercial banks rely on on to fix their rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, the actual charges which constitute operator\u2019s fees and taxes, make the mobile money operation almost extortionist. While the advent of mobile money was lauded as a step towards expanded financial inclusion of the largely unbanked population, with every mobile number being an money account as well, it is being achieved at a punitive cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The simple fact is that every million (shillings) that enters a mobile account automatically becomes 980,000 once you try to use it, even if it is one second after it got deposited. If a commercial bank ever imposed such rates it would be abandoned by the customers and go out business fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet so many people working upcountry where no bank branches exist are being aid via mobile money. But once a million shillings gets deposited, you can only retrieve 980,000, the rest having \u2018vanished\u2019 in charges and taxes. Individuals keep arguing on who meets the charges in the transaction between them. But an employee working on a construction site or in a farm has no bargaining power with employer, and has to keep losing relatively colossal sums.
So it is with hope that the public welcomes the central bank into the mobile money arena, in the hope that this subversion of financial inclusion will be tackled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT The Bank of Uganda has taken the bold, necessary step to take over supervision of the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[90,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-national-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Mutebile-.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16166,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/mobile-money-transaction-value-grows-five-times-more-than-ugandas-commercial-bank-assets-bou-data-shows\/","url_meta":{"origin":3339,"position":0},"title":"Mobile Money transaction value grows five times more than Uganda’s commercial bank assets- BoU data shows","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"December 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The annual value of mobile money transactions in Uganda is now approximately five times greater than the entire commercial banking sector\u2019s balance sheet, underscoring a fundamental shift in the nation\u2019s financial ecosystem, according to new data from the Bank of Uganda. Mobile money transactions soared to 253.7 trillion shillings in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot_20221109-163514.webp","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot_20221109-163514.webp 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot_20221109-163514.webp 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot_20221109-163514.webp 2x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot_20221109-163514.webp 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12143,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/bou-issues-new-directives-to-deal-with-un-licenssed-digital-money-lending-apps\/","url_meta":{"origin":3339,"position":1},"title":"BoU Issues New Directives To Deal With Un-licenssed Digital Money Lending Apps","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"June 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Due to the increased number of unlicensed digital lending apps where man unsuspecting Ugandans have been scammed and lost money in billions of shillings, \u00a0Bank of Uganda has directed the digital lenders to carry out due diligence through holding valid licenses and obtain confirmations from Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/R.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/R.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/R.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/R.jpg 2x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/R.jpg 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7560,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/bou-to-regulate-saccos-with-shs1-5b-in-savings\/","url_meta":{"origin":3339,"position":2},"title":"BoU to regulate Saccos with Shs1.5b in savings\u00a0","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"December 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Bank of Uganda has proposed amendments to the Microfinance Deposit-Taking Institutions Act to regulate at some 42 Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (Saccos) whose savings have hit Shs1.5b.\u00a0 The new regulation will be effected under the Micro Finance Deposit-taking Institutions (Registered Societies) Regulations, 2022. \u00a0 Dr Tumubweinee Twinemanzi, \u00a0the Bank\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Finance"","block_context":{"text":"Finance","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/finance\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4981,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/mtn-mobile-money-uganda-appoints-new-managing-director\/","url_meta":{"origin":3339,"position":3},"title":"MTN Mobile Money Uganda appoints new Managing Director","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"January 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"MTN Mobile Money Uganda Limited, a subsidiary of MTN Uganda Limited, has announced the appointment of Richard Yego as its Managing Director. \u201cWe are delighted that Richard Yego joins the MTN family as the Managing Director for MTN Mobile Money Uganda. 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