NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The use of non-bank formal services is leading the pack of financial inclusion in Uganda, a new study has revealed.

According to the 2013 Finscope III Survey, it is the mobile money platform that is leading the charge of financial transactions outside the banks. The surge has seen the share of the adult population accessing financial services rise from 28 per cent in 2009 to 54 per cent in 2013.

Titled Unlocking Barriers to Financial Inclusion in Uganda, Finscope III is the third of surveys carried out after those of 2006 and 2009 by the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC). It was funded by UK’s Department for International Development (Dfid).

The survey reveals that the current number of registered mobile money users is higher than bank account holders. In just four years, there is an estimated 5.1 million mobile money users compared to 3.4 million persons who hold bank accounts.