Have you ever visited an eatery, supermarket, gym, or related places, and a surcharge added to your bill because you opted to pay using a card? Well, that seems to be common to an end thanks to a directive from the Uganda Bankers Association (UBA).
The body launched a campaign dubbed Pay with your Card at no extra cost in a move seen to increase the uptake of digital and electronic card payments across the country. This also follows a similar move by Bank of Uganda late last year banning extra charges levied on card payments by both merchants and banks, since the vice was stifling adoption of digital payments.
Related: BoU bans charging of extra fees on Debit Card transactions
Bank of Uganda had set a 2022 target to move the economy cashless according to BOUs Executive Director of Research, Dr.Adam Mugume but that seems unlikely given cash transactions make up a bulk of transactions in the economy. According to 2019 figures from the central bank, cash payments rose above the average of UGX 423B to UGX 544B, a 20% increase from the year before.
Compare that to just 2 million issued electronic cards of the 15 million bank accounts in the whole country during the same period. Much as the target seems unlikely, this new move is a step in the right direction towards achieving this goal.
This new UBA campaign is not only spearheaded by the association but Visa and Mastercard, who will provide the necessary connectivity and infrastructure to power the electronic cards. The two are also the leading card payments network processors in the country with almost all cards in circulation powered by them.
Related: What are virtual credit cards, and where to get one in Uganda?
UBA further called out merchants operating point of sale terminals to stop levying extra charges on customers. The Pay with your Card at no extra cost campaign will run for a duration of 6 months, highlighting the benefits of card payments and educating Ugandans about transacting at no extra cost through digital payments.
