By Our Reporter
Exim Bank has launched a new banking solution aimed at driving financial inclusion and bolstering the cashless economy. The new product, a Visa Prepaid Card, was unveiled on Friday during a launch ceremony held at their head offices along Hannington road in Kampala.
Addressing guests, Mr. Sabhapathy T. Krishnan, the CEO Exim Bank Uganda said, “the Visa Prepaid Card is a journey we have undertaken at Exim Bak today as we strive to bring convenience and digitize the Ugandan economy by making it cashless and enabling financial inclusion of the unbanked.”
He further revealed that the prepaid card is just one of the many steps they have undertaken in the last 12 months towards digitization of transactions and bringing convenience to their customers.
“We have expanded our branch network, launched agency banking and also introduced mobile and internet banking in the past one.This is in a bid to bring experiences available in other parts of the world to our customers.” Mr. Sabhapathy added.
Prepaid Cards combine the convenience of a credit or debit card, but allow you to set your spending limit according to your budget. The cards are available to everyone, regardless of credit rating, income, or whether or not you hold an EXIM Bank account.
The payment platform for the cards will be the Visa network and transactions will be authorized online, real time with no risk of unauthorized overdraft as customer can only make use of funds they have already paid for.
The card can be used to transact globally and supports transactions in upto five currencies including UGX and USD with the card ceiling being UGX 25 Million or USD 15,000.
Moses Watasa, the commissioner of information dissemination monitoring and inspection at the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, who was also guest of honor commended Exim Bank on the innovation and noted that it will go a long way in encouraging financial discipline.
“We have 6.5 million internet users in Uganda today, and that figure is projected to grow by 50% by 2025. Therefore the launch of this innovation is very timely,” Moses Watasa noted, adding that, “this is a good innovation that will promote financial discipline and facilitate a saving culture with in the country. Saving encourages investment which in turn leads to growth of the economy.”
To register for the Prepaid Card, the customer is required to complete an Application Form and provide a valid National ID for Ugandan Citizens/Passport for foreigners as well as one passport size photo.