Ugandans ditch banking halls for mobile phones

More Ugandans are turning to their mobile phones as a medium for making transactions than bearing the hassle of lining up in banking halls, a new survey, commissioned by the Uganda Communications Commission, shows.

“The majority of Ugandans can’t even afford to read or manage the requirements needed while opening up bank accounts. But they can easily register accounts with mobile money and keep their money on the phone, where they can easily access it any time,” said Fred Tusubira, the managing director of Knowledge and Consulting company, the firm that was contracted to carry out the survey.

He added: “On mobile money, they also have access to banking services where they can send, deposit and withdraw money at any time.” The Uganda Bureau of Statistics also had an input in the survey.

Tusubira said about 24 per cent of Uganda’s population uses mobile money against the 17 per cent who own bank accounts. Tusubira said the survey also found out that most Ugandans didn’t appreciate the benefits of internet services.

“Many Ugandans don’t have access to internet because they find it to be too expensive. This has discouraged them from having an interest in it [internet] yet it’s the easiest way to access information about their businesses,” he said.

Tusubira explained that many Ugandans use internet at the office and in the cafes, but rarely access it when they are at home or elsewhere. Dr Twinemanzi Tumubweinee, the head of Competition and Consumer Affairs at UCC, said their findings showed that  many Ugandans also found it expensive to own a phone, leave alone buying airtime and paying for the power to charge it.

“The survey found out that 50 per cent of Ugandans can’t afford to buy mobile phones because they are expensive and the cost of airtime is also expensive, which is still a big challenge in communication,” he said.

SOURCE:THEOBSERVER

zurah@observer.ug