Payment methods in Uganda
Mobile money has 34.6 million active subscribers, significantly outpacing the formal banking sector.
Market takeaways
- Mobile money has 34.6 million active subscribers, significantly outpacing the formal banking sector.
- MTN Mobile Money processes ~UGX 159 trillion (~US$43B) annually, equivalent to major portions of GDP.
- USSD is the dominant access technology due to widespread feature phone usage in rural areas.
- The Bank of Uganda has licensed 51 payment service operators and providers under the National Payments System Act.
- MTN Uganda launched a Mastercard virtual prepaid card for mobile money users in 2025, bridging mobile money and online payments.
Population
~50M
Online population
~20M
Banked population
~58% (incl. mobile money)
Mobile Money Penetration
~65% of adults
Credit card population
~2%
Payment method breakdown
- Mobile Money60%
- Cash30%
- Bank Transfer7%
- Card2%
- Other1%
Card scheme breakdown
- Visa55%
- Mastercard43%
- Local Schemes2%
- Other0%
Cross-border e-commerce
Market data coming soon.
Featured payment methods in Uganda
Popular options based on coverage and prominence in this market.
Airtel Money
Airtel Money is Kenya's second-largest mobile money provider, holding approximately 6.6% market share as of 2024 (up from 2.8%). It operates similarly to M-Pesa and enables money transfers, bill payments, and merchant payments via USSD and the Airtel Money app.
Wendi (PostBank Uganda)
Wendi is PostBank Uganda's mobile money wallet, integrated with Western Union for international money transfers in late 2024. It provides banking services through an agent network to underbanked Ugandans.
MTN Mobile Money
MTN MoMo is the leading mobile money service in Eswatini, offering P2P transfers, merchant payments, bill payments, airtime top-up, and savings products. It is the primary digital financial tool for the unbanked population and is widely used even by banked consumers for everyday payments. MTN Eswatini has the largest mobile subscriber base in the country.
Chipper Cash
Chipper Cash is a pan-African wallet for free cross-border transfers, bill pay, virtual cards and online payments across seven markets. Operator: Chipper Technologies Inc. Est. users: 7M+ users (2024).
JumiaPay
JumiaPay is the embedded wallet and checkout solution for the Jumia marketplace and bill payments across several African markets. Operator: Jumia Technologies AG. Est. users: ~5.4M Jumia active customers (2024).
Tingg
Tingg is Cellulant's consumer payments app and checkout that aggregates mobile money, cards and bank rails across eight African markets. Operator: Cellulant Corporation. Est. users: Large pan-African user base (2024).
All payment methods in Uganda
Discover 6 payment methods from around the world
Featured banks in Uganda
Major institutions operating in this market.
Standard Bank South Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa
Standard Bank is Africa's largest bank by assets, offering retail, SME, corporate, investment, and private banking across 20 African countries.
Absa Group South Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa
Absa (formerly Barclays Africa) is South Africa's fourth-largest bank, offering retail, SME, corporate, and investment banking across Africa.
GTBank (Guaranty Trust Holding)
Lagos, Nigeria
GTBank (now GTCO Holdings) is one of Nigeria's leading banks, known for digital innovation and strong retail and corporate banking.
KCB Group Kenya
Nairobi, Kenya
KCB (Kenya Commercial Bank) Group is East Africa's largest bank by total assets, with operations in 7 East African countries.
Equity Bank Kenya
Nairobi, Kenya
Equity Bank is Kenya's largest bank by customer base (over 20 million), offering retail, SME, and corporate banking with operations across East Africa.
CRDB Bank Tanzania
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
CRDB Bank is Tanzania's largest bank by assets and deposits, offering retail, SME, and corporate banking.
