L-R Mr. Wilbrod Owor, Executive Director Uganda Bankers Association, Dr. Twinemanzi Tumubweine Executive Director Supervision BOU, Bram van den Bosch Managing Director Laboremus Uganda and Rashmi Pillai ED FSD Uganda s after the signing of an MoU to enable digital verification for bank customers. PHOTO BOU MEDIA Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Bank of Uganda (BoU), in collaboration with Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA) and Financial Sector Deepening Uganda (FSDU) today signed a landmark contract with fintech company Laboremus Uganda to develop a digital ID verification system to be used by all banks and other licensed financial service providers in the country.
The development means licensed financial service providers can speed up identity authentication processes, cut costs of previous length manual processes. This, it is expected, will increase reach particularly to previously unserved and underserved customer segments especially people living in rural areas or in the diaspora.
Furthermore, it will be an important building block for enhancement of existing electronic channels like agent banking and other innovation within the financial services sector.
“We are leveraging fintech to increase the access of financial services to a cross section consumers,” said Wilbrod Owor, Executive Director of the Uganda Bankers Association when the the partnership was launched at a press conference at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Kampala today.
Bram van den Bosch – Managing Director – Laboremus Uganda added that, “This system will be designed and customized to fit Uganda’s needs and is based on proven and tested systems in place.The system will make a digital track record of verified accounts and National IDs.”
“Data and Information associated with specific customers or groups can be used to accurately profile them and empower providers to design financial products and services that best suit the financial needs of all.”
BOU reassures
The system is to function as a shared E-Gateway and will be hosted at Bank of Uganda. It will interface with and use NIRA’s existing records, as well as the National ID card system, to help banks verify the identity of existing and prospective clients in account opening and transaction processing among others. The system will offer a secure, multi-factor digital authentication that will be available to all companies in the financial services sector. Dr. Twinemanzi “Bank of Uganda will continue to provide the enabling legal and regulatory framework for the financial sector to thrive based on our recognition of the importance of digitizing financial services, ” […]