Kampala. The number of mobile money accounts in the country has increased from 17.9 million in September 2014 to 19.8 million in September 2015, representing an increase of 2.1 million users over the last one year.
The rise signifies how fast mobile phones are drawing people into the financial system using telecommunication system, which they consider it as being cheap.
The mobile money platform was introduced in Uganda in 2008 and has since had a profound impact on the country’s financial system bringing millions of people through mobile money to the financial system.
Addressing participants at the annual Financial Literacy Information Sharing Group meeting in Kampala recently, Bank of Uganda Deputy governor Louis Kasekende said many Ugandans have embraced the mobile money revolution, with the number of mobile money registered users rising while bank accounts have remained relatively stable at five million.
“Our challenge therefore regards the use of financial literacy messages and the design of appropriate products and services by the financial institutions to support the transformation of these mobile money accounts into accounts within the formal banking industry,” he said. “Similarly, it is also worth asking, how can we use financial literacy to increase the participation of Ugandans both at individual and SME institutional level in the existing financial instruments like Treasury bills and bonds,” he added.
He said such statistics underscore the need to enhance financial literacy so as to encourage people to utilise investment opportunities available to them.
moketch@ug.nationmedia.com
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