For Uganda to go to the next stage of financial development, fees related to inter-operator services must be significantly come down or totally eliminated, according to Bank of Uganda.

The fees, among other obstacles remain a challenge to full adaptability of digital financial services, Mr Andrew Kawere, the Bank of Uganda National Payment Systems deputy director, said during the Digital and Financial Inclusion Summit in Kampala, noting that barriers resulting from inter operator requirements have marginalized a section of Ugandans from advancing their financial knowledge.

Such barriers, he said, lead to high transactional fees, which adversely affects digital innovations and banking, citing an example of how at a certain point mobile money companies had been alien to the idea of sharing agents with the view of protecting their business zones.

“There are several other facets around interoperatory that need to be addressed, a case in point bank to wallet and wallet to bank that require banks to have bilateral arrangements for the payment service provider or e-money user. Considering the 25 non-bank entities that have been licensed and 25 licensed commercial banks, this means that more than 600 bilateral arrangements must be executed if all banks support the bank to wallet payments,” he said.

This, Mr Kawere said, breed inefficiency and affects transaction pricing thereby impacting usage of financial services and innovation.

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