Electronic Money Issuer — Uganda
The Uganda category mapped to e-money issuance.
Regulator: Bank of Uganda.
NPS Act (Cap. 59) s.47(1)(a): issues e-money only after an equivalent amount of cash is deposited in a trust account or special account; the EMI is a class of the payment-service-provider category under reg 11(3)(a) of the NPS Regulations 2021, licensed under s.9.
Maintained: this official source is re-checked on a weekly schedule — last checked 2026-08-24 · unchanged since the previous check.
Coverage note: BoU's NPS directory states a licence category/class for only 10 of 56 entities; 5 carry e-money-issuer class wording. The 46 entities publishing no class are counted but not ingested (parse-what's-published).
Licensed providers
5 entities| # | Provider | Status (as reported) | Source | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Interswitch East Africa (U) Limited | licensed | Bank of Uganda | not dated |
| 2 | Mcash Uganda Limited | licensed | Bank of Uganda | not dated |
| 3 | Micropay Uganda Limited | licensed | Bank of Uganda | not dated |
| 4 | MTN Mobile Money Uganda Limited | licensed | Bank of Uganda | not dated |
| 5 | Wave Transfer Limited | licensed | Bank of Uganda | not dated |
Reading the tables
- not dated
- — the official source publishes no date of its own. We show our own last-checked date instead of inventing one for the regulator.
Licence requirements
What it takes to hold this licence, as stated in the cited official instruments. Capital and fees are shown in the currency the statute itself uses.
| Requirement | As published | Source | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum capital | Tiered by trust-account value: large (trust > UGX 200bn) = UGX 10,000,000,000; medium (> UGX 500m, ≤ 200bn) = UGX 5,000,000,000; small (≤ UGX 500m) = UGX 250,000,000 Verbatim“Payment service provider (a) electronic money issuer (i) large electronic money issuer whose total trust account value exceeds two hundred billion shillings. … 10,000,000,000/= (ii) medium electronic money issuer whose total trust account value exceeds five hundred million but does not exceed two hundred billion shillings. … 5,000,000,000/= (iii) small electronic money issuer whose total trust account value does not exceed five hundred million shillings. … 250,000,000/=” | National Payment Systems Regulations, 2021 (S.I. 2021 No. 18) | 2021-02-26 |
| Local presence / incorporation | Local subsidiary required; premises inspected; primary data centre must be in Uganda Verbatim“…that intends to issue electronic money shall establish a subsidiary legal entity for that purpose … An electronic money issuer shall establish and maintain its primary data center … in Uganda … …shall before grant of a licence … inspect the premises” | National Payment Systems Act, 2020 (Cap. 59), consolidated | 2020-09-04 |
| Timeline | Processing: licence granted within 60 days of application. Validity: open-ended (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 (fit-and-proper + beneficial-owner disclosure, not a nationality quota) | National Payment Systems Regulations, 2021 (S.I. 2021 No. 18) | 2021-02-26 |
| Fees | By EMI size tier: application UGX 3,000,000 (all tiers); licence fee large 25m / medium 20m / small 15m; annual fee large 25m / medium 20m / small 15m Verbatim“3,000,000/= … 25,000,000/= … 25,000,000/= … 3,000,000/= … 20,000,000/= … 20,000,000/= … 3,000,000/= … 15,000,000/= … 15,000,000/=” | National Payment Systems Regulations, 2021 (S.I. 2021 No. 18) | 2021-02-26 |
| Ongoing obligations | Trust/safeguarding: issue e-money only after equal cash deposited in a trust/special account (s.47(1)(a); s.49); 100% of e-money in liquid assets (s.60(1)); no commingling (s.53(c)). AML: comply with AML Act 2013 (s.47(5)(e)); AML/CFT policy (reg 3(2)(s)). Reporting: monthly/weekly/daily reconciliation returns (reg 22; reg 21); audited financials by 30 Apr (reg 23(6)). Capital: maintain unimpaired; 90-day cure on shortfall (s.66(2); reg 8(3)). Verbatim“issue electronic money only after an equivalent amount of cash is deposited in the trust account or a special account … shall keep one hundred per cent of the electronic money held … in liquid assets … within ninety days” | National Payment Systems Act, 2020 (Cap. 59), consolidated | 2020-09-04 |
Requirements as published in the cited instruments — not legal or compliance advice. 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.
The equivalent in other markets
Categories mapped to the same normalized activity —
fintech:EMONEY_ISSUE:
- → Mobile Money Operator Licence Category (Nigeria)
- → E-Money Issuer (Kenya)
- → Small E-Money Issuer (Kenya)
- → Dedicated Electronic Money Issuer (Ghana)
- → Electronic Money Issuer (Tanzania)
- → Electronic Money Institution (Zambia)
- → E-Money Issuer (Rwanda)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Benin)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Burkina Faso)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Côte d'Ivoire)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Guinea-Bissau)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Mali)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Niger)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Senegal)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Togo)
- → Payment Instrument Issuer (Ethiopia)
- → Établissement de paiement (Cameroon)
- → Établissement de paiement (Central African Republic)
- → Établissement de paiement (Congo-Brazzaville)
- → Établissement de paiement (Gabon)
- → Établissement de paiement (Equatorial Guinea)
- → Établissement de paiement (Chad)
- → Établissement de paiement offrant des produits et services de paiement (Morocco)
- → Mobile Financial Services (mobile money) (Zimbabwe)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (DR Congo)
- → Instituição de moeda electrónica (Mozambique)
- → Sociedade Prestadora de Serviços de Pagamentos (Angola)
- → Electronic Money (E-Money) participant (Namibia)
- → Mobile Money Issuers (Lesotho)
- → Mobile Money Service Provider (Eswatini)
- → Electronic Money Issuance (Botswana)
- → E-Money Issuer (Malawi)
- → Mobile Money Service Provider (Somalia)
- → Établissement de paiement émetteur de monnaie électronique (Burundi)
- → Établissement de monnaie électronique (Djibouti)
- → Mobile money operator (The Gambia)
- → Electronic money issuer (Seychelles)
- → Instituição de moeda eletrónica (Cabo Verde)
- → Mobile money operator (Sierra Leone)