UPI and PostBank Uganda partner to enhance digital financial inclusion in Uganda

By Edlyn Cardoza

UnionPay International (UPI) and PostBank Uganda Ltd have announced an extension of their ongoing collaboration to enhance digital financial inclusion in Uganda further. The partnership between PostBank Uganda and UnionPay International was established in 2018 with a core objective of improving access to financial services and, ultimately, financial inclusion of Uganda’s previously unbanked or underbanked people.

“UnionPay International is delighted to build on the successes achieved through this partnership. We look forward to the exciting times ahead, especially now that PostBank has attained Tier One Commercial Bank status. Over one million PostBank customers will now have access to convenient and cost-effective payment services thanks to this partnership,” said Asad Burney, Head of UnionPay International Africa branch.

PostBank has connected over 30,000 SACCO (Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation) members in the past three years to digital banking. Thanks to the partnership between UPI and PostBank Uganda, over one million customers can now access intelligent, convenient, and cost-effective payment products and services locally and internationally.

“We will continue to grow our product offerings to ensure financial inclusion beyond the retail space. Agriculture is an area in which most of our Ugandan target population have their livelihood”, said Julius Kakeeto, the Managing Director PostBank Uganda, adding, “The digital financial services space will expand the opportunities for all our stakeholders, such as product distribution channels, markets access locally and internationally, real-time information on prices. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Kakeeto concluded that “Uganda has plans to facilitate agricultural products exports into China. Therefore, we intend to leverage the opportunities the UnionPay partnership brings to position ourselves as a leader in this space.”

UnionPay International is a subsidiary of China UnionPay focused on the growth and support of UnionPay’s global business. UPI provides high-quality, cost-effective, and secure cross-border payment services to the world’s largest cardholder base and ensures convenient local services to a growing number of global UnionPay cardholders and merchants.

At present, UnionPay cards are widely accepted in Africa across all sectors, effectively meeting the diverse purchasing needs of its cardholders visiting and living on the continent. UnionPay cards have been issued in more than ten African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, Madagascar, and Mauritius.