New way to pay to enter Uganda National Parks
> This will be more secure for tourists accessing the national parks and protected areas while on holiday in Uganda.
The new payment platform was unveiled in a virtual zoom engagement on August 9, 2021, organized by UWA management.
Payments can be processed online using a VISA, Master Card, and American Express debit card for United States Dollar and Uganda Shilling currencies.
The zoom meeting included Stephen Masaba, Director of Tourism and Business Development; Jimmy Mugisa, Director of Finance; Paul Ninsiima, Sales Manager; and Desk Officers Robert Maani and Leslie Muhindo. Developed in partnership with ABSA, Stanbic, Centenary (UGX only) and Citi Banks, payment can be processed online using a VISA, Master Card, and American Express debit card for United States Dollar (USD) and Uganda Shilling (UGX) currencies.
After login , a one-time password is sent to the client’s given phone number at each transaction upon which a receipt with a Unique Registration Number (URN) is auto generated from the portal and emailed to the client detailing the activity and the park of choice for presentation at the respective gate.
Other available payment options include:
• Direct payment at the bank till where by the bank slip is then presented at the park gate for receipting.
• Payment via Point of Sale (POS) supported by Stanbic and Absa Banks plus 0.75% surcharge at selected gates with access to Internet and power.
• Payment via Mobile Money platform for specific services through USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) Codes protocol that allows the mobile phones to communicate directly with service providers’ computers via text messages and a drop-down menu. This option is expected to be rolled out by the end of August 2021.
Masaba emphasized that the system is in tandem with existing guidelines. For gorilla permits , for instance, one must ensure that they have a permit number which shall be required to be entered into the system before payment is processed.
The new system is a successor to the “Wildlife Card” which was the previous system that was launched by then UWA Executive Director Dr. Andrew Seguya on February 7, 2017, at Hotel Africana, Kampala, albeit under very different circumstances, before the COVID-19 era where physical interaction and dining with over 200 tour operators was the norm.Then the biggest concern was carrying large sums of bullion cash between protected areas which presented enormous challenges […]