What does it take to get a payment processing licence in Uganda?
To hold a payment processing licence in Uganda, you need the Payment Service Provider licence from Bank of Uganda. Published timeline: Processing: within 60 days. Validity: valid until revoked. 8 entities currently hold a payment processing licence in Uganda. Full requirements — minimum capital, local presence, timeline, local ownership, fees and ongoing obligations — are set out below in each instrument's own words, with source and date; amounts are in the statute's own currency.
“Payment processing” here is the normalized activity: Provide payment processing / payment solution services without holding customer funds. Providers in this category cannot keep customers' money.
Activity id (as used by the Afriset MCP): fintech:PAYMENT_PROCESSING
Payment Service Provider
Bank of Uganda| Requirement | As published | Source | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum capital | No such requirement: Not separately prescribed for a general (non-EMI) PSP. Schedule 4's PSP category lists only the EMI class; "any other PSP" appears in the fee Schedule (3) with no capital figure in Schedule 4. | National Payment Systems Regulations, 2021 (S.I. 2021 No. 18) | 2021-02-26 |
| Local presence / incorporation | Certified incorporation documents; foreign company needs notarised incorporation copy; premises inspected pre-licence Verbatim“a certified copy of incorporation documents of the applicant … in case of a foreign company a copy of incorporation documents certified by a notary public” | National Payment Systems Regulations, 2021 (S.I. 2021 No. 18) | 2021-02-26 |
| Timeline | Processing: within 60 days. Validity: valid until revoked. Verbatim“The central bank shall grant the license within sixty days from the date of the application … A licence granted under this Act shall be valid until revoked” | National Payment Systems Act, 2020 (Cap. 59), consolidated | 2020-09-04 |
| Local ownership | No such requirement: No local-shareholding percentage prescribed | National Payment Systems Regulations, 2021 (S.I. 2021 No. 18) | 2021-02-26 |
| Fees | "any other payment service provider licence": application UGX 3,000,000 · licence UGX 5,000,000 · annual UGX 5,000,000 Verbatim“any other payment service provider licence — 3,000,000/= … 5,000,000/= … 5,000,000/=” | National Payment Systems Regulations, 2021 (S.I. 2021 No. 18) | 2021-02-26 |
| Ongoing obligations | Annual fee by 31 Jan (s.15(1)); 10-year record retention (s.63(1)); monthly reporting within 10 working days (reg 22(1)); quarterly + audited financials (reg 23); risk-management framework + international standards (reg 32); CB approval for mergers/outsourcing/cross-border/branches (regs 27–29, 31); consumer- & data-protection (s.65; reg 25(2)) Verbatim“…maintain a record of all payment transactions … for at least ten years … …pay an annual fee … on or before the 31st day of January … within ten working days from the last day of every month” | National Payment Systems Act, 2020 (Cap. 59), consolidated | 2020-09-04 |
Requirements as published in the cited instruments — not legal or compliance advice. Capital and fees are shown in the currency the statute itself uses. Where a value is located but not yet verified, we show that it exists but don't publish the figure. Verify directly with the regulator.
Maintained: this official source is re-checked on a weekly schedule — last checked 2026-08-04 · unchanged since the previous check.
Who already holds this licence?
8 entities are on the Bank of Uganda register under the Payment Service Provider category — view the register .
Related
Everything Afriset holds on Uganda →
Related questions
This question, in other markets