Daily Monitor
Tuesday June 01 2021
Summary
Standalone business. E-commerce platforms of Airtel Uganda and MTN Uganda have automatically become standalone businesses from their parent companies –the telecoms, a move that is likely to drive partnerships among payment service providers.
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Is it a good move, or a risky one? Whose business is it going to impact mostly? Is it the savers, banks or telecoms that have been managing mobile money services?
These are the lingering questions in the corridors, sparked off by the recent pronouncement by Bank of Uganda (BoU) Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile that the Central Bank had commenced licensing of payment system operators, payment service providers and issuers of payment instruments.
Daily Monitor
Monday May 24 2021
Telecoms will now be required to register new businesses under which mobile money shall be operated. PHOTO | FILE
Summary
The licences, which were issued at the weekend by the National Payment System department at Bank of Uganda, will seek to ensure overall effectiveness and integrity of payment systems in the country, including mobile money.
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Mobile money has been split as a standalone business which, going forward, will be regulated by Bank of Uganda as a financial service.
The move, which effectively takes mobile money away from telecom service operations, regulated by Uganda Communications Commission, has now been implemented with the issuance of financial services operator licences to Airtel Money, which will trade as Airtel Mobile Commerce Uganda and MTN, which has placed its mobile money business under MTN Mobile Money Uganda.
Daily Monitor
Tuesday March 16 2021
A man uses a visa card to complete a transaction. Fintechs have largely relied on venture capital funding to develop scalable products that can serve across many markets. PHOTO/Eronie Kamukama
Summary
Uganda attracts the least funding for fintechs in venture capital, with Rwanda, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa and Nigeria being the leaders in hedge funds,
Paul Murungi writes.
Over the last 50 years, banks have played a primary role in banking or financial intermediation. This has slowly progressed into electronic payments with the evolution of Real Time Gross Settlements (RTGS) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), among other modes of financial innovations to facilitate payments between different institutions and across borders.
Taxing bank withdrawals will be harmful to economy - BoU
Friday February 12 2021
It is not yet clear how government will seek to go about this but sources within the Ministry of Finance say there is a proposal to introduce a 0.5 per cent levy on each bank cash withdrawal. PHOTO | FILE
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Taxing cash withdrawals from banks will be detrimental to the economy, Bank of Uganda has said.
This comes in the wake of a February 9 letter in which government is seeking guidance on a proposal imposing a tax on bank withdrawals.
In a response to emailed questions yesterday, Dr Adam Mugume, the Bank of Uganda (BoU) executive director research, told Daily Monitor the proposed move will negatively impact deposits and penetration, which continues to be below average.