By Michael Kanaabi Dollar
Wendi Mobile Wallet an open ended Fintech and E-Money innovation of Post Bank Uganda through which it is set to partner with other banks and telcos which are already on board that is Airtel and MTN to extend financial services to Uganda’s unbanked population both urban and rural was launched officially by Bank of Uganda Deputy Governor Dr. Michael Atingi Ego at the Kampala Serena Conference centre.
Speaking at the launch of the Wallet where he was the Chief Guest, the Deputy Governor said, “ I commend Post Bank Uganda for moving fast and launching the much anticipated Wendi Mobile Wallet just 3 months after getting their National Payment Systems License allowing them to issue E-Money from us at the Central Bank. This very innovative product is in line with Bank of Uganda’s vision of financial inclusion for all.”
Having successfully facilitated the disbursement of Parish Development model funds recently during it’s piloting phase which is a government program aimed at lifting 3.5 million households out of poverty, boasting over 373 agents signed up already and 700 billion plus in transactions, Wendi officially moved today beyond PDM to all other users and members of the general public the Deputy Governor asserted.
With it’s ability to integrate with other banks seamlessly and also linked to the National information Registration Authority (NIRA), he urged other banks to come on board and make best use of this platform instead of duplicating similar platforms given a shared platform which is easy to integrate cuts down the cost of digital transactions as a whole.
In his final remarks the Deputy Governor urged the creators and managers of Wendi Mobile Wallet to ensure information security, safety of clients funds ensure its available for clients all the time with very limited down time adding that they will as the regulator continue issuing guidelines, carrying out audits and work on policy improvement to ensure this digital wallet is a success on top of all other initiatives aimed at universal financial inclusion.
Post Bank Uganda Managing Director Julius Kakeeto highlighted some of the milestones this nascent mobile wallet has been able to achieve to date while speaking at the launch of Wendi.
He said, “ 350,000 users have already signed up to the Wendi Mobile Wallet which shows the rate of uptake is really impressive with the capacity of the Wallet’s robust system able to process up to 500,000 plus transactions in a single day, the room for growth and Expansion is massive.”
Kakeeto pointed out that what differentiates Wendi Mobile Wallet from all the other similar products on the market is you don’t need a bank account to get onto it.
And you can sign up to it in under a minute by downloading the application from your app store and filling out what is needed on the app or logging onto USSD code *229# and following the prompts to create your own account he said.
Convenience which involves easy bank to wallet transfers, paying of bills like National Water, TV and Yaka plus up to 5% interest regularly remitted for your savings on the wallet and any one being able to start saving on the app from as low as Shs. 1000, Wendi Mobile Wallet is a new dawn of convenience not experienced before in the digital transactions space.
Our long-term aim for the establishment of Wendi Mobile Wallet goes beyond Post Bank given we already have an internal digital application, we were looking at reaching out to the unbanked and fostering financial inclusion for all in collaboration with other banks that is why Wendi is branded independently from Post Bank.
We have engaged other banks to come and be apart of this platform and bid to push financial inclusion for all and so far 6 Banks which include EXIM Bank, Equity Bank, Housing Finance Bank, Opportunity Bank, Pride Microfinance and DTB have expressed interest with the process of boarding and integrating them into the system ongoing. With the support of government, Kakeeto said they plan to have a Wendi agent established in each of the 10500 parishes across the country to finally move towards financial inclusion for all.
Andrew Kabeera Post Bank’s Executive Director also the lead Executive in the creation of the Wendi Mobile Wallet said this innovation journey started back in 2020 when Covid 19 struck and government needed to get a way of sending much needed relief funds to those in need.
“Issues of verification of who is needy and who isn’t, ensuring the relief funds reached those who needed them directly and getting Ugandans who were financially excluded into the money economy are the challenges we set out to solve then” he says.
And all our efforts including previous innovations have merged into this great innovation the Wendi Mobile Wallet.
Kabeera notes that this wallet has the ability to carry out money transfers, offer micro credit, handle deposits and savings while offering interest with time.
With Value added services like micro insurance, providing a platform on which Saccos and Village saving schemes can operate effectively while also being able to integrate account opening and co- lending among the various banks that are in advanced stages of joining the platform, the Wendi Mobile Wallet has surely raised the bar for E-Money and digital transactions.
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