Send Money To Uganda

Ways to Send Money to Uganda

Depending on the country you are sending money from, there are a number of channels you can opt for. The most common of these are bank to bank transfers, online money transfer, in-store cash transfers, and mobile money transfer. Let us look at each of these channels in greater detail.

Bank to Bank Transfers

This is one of the traditional ways of sending money that Ugandans still use to date. Those in the middle east send money to local banks in Uganda such as Stanbic Bank, Centenary Bank, Standard Chartered Bank among others. Using this channel has the advantage of safety and reliability.

Most of the banks in Uganda are international banks which means you can get either their branches or headquarters in your host country. This multinational feature makes it easier to transfer money and ensures faster delivery.

With that being said, most transfers through the banking system experience systemic delays and cost escalations. For instance, you may send money from a country as closer to Uganda as Kenya or Tanzania and it takes up to 5 working days for the transfer to be delivered.

For instance, sending money from Barclays Bank PLC in the United Kingdom to Uganda will cost you £25 if you do it through the branch or over the telephone. You may also incur overseas delivery charges and cover charges.

Using this channel also requires that both the sender and the recipient have bank accounts. Financial inclusion reports indicated that more than 50% of Ugandans mostly from rural areas have no access to formal banking services. This complicates the use of bank-to-bank transfers even further.

Online Money Transfers

Money transfer operators using the internet as the access point for their transfers have grown in number over the years. Uganda and to a larger extent Sub-Saharan Africa have provided a lucrative destination for remittances through online money transfer providers.

Companies such as Wave, Small World, WorldRemit, Azimo, Xpress Money, and Ria have dominated the Uganda remittance corridors. Others including TransferWise, Transfast, and Xoom are also gaining widespread popularity.

The advantage of using online money transfer providers when sending money to Uganda is that they are fast, simple, and cost-effective. To start off, you’ll have to sign up for an account, have your details verified, pay for your transfer and send the funds to your loved ones in Uganda.

The information requested is minimal compared to what banks ask for and you have lots of payment options. Depending on the provider, you may pay for your transfer using a credit or debit card, bank transfer, direct debit, Sofort, and many other options.

The payout options available range from cash pickups, direct-bank-deposits to mobile transfers. The option you choose largely depends on your personal preferences and the proximity of the provider’s disbursement network to the recipient.

Online money transfer providers not only charge lower transfer fees but also give senders comparatively higher exchange rates. For instance, sending 1000 GBP to Uganda from the United Kingdom through TransferWise will cost you about 18.28 GBP, with zero margins on exchange rates. For the same transfer, WorldRemit will charge you 13.99 GBP in transfer fees plus 2.85% exchange margin.

In-Store Cash Transfer

Apart from the internet being an access point, you can also send money from an agent. Money transfer operators such as Western Union, MoneyGram, Ria, Dahabshiil, and Xpress Money, allow their customers to send money from stores near them.

If you are in the UK, you can send up to 8,000.00 GBP on Western Union and the recipient in Uganda will collect it from a cash pickup location at a cost of only 12.90 GBP. The transfer takes a few minutes to get to Uganda. On MoneyGram, the maximum you can send to Uganda is 5828.00 GBP and the cost is 3.99 GBP.

Both MoneyGram and Western Union have partnered with banks such as Equity Bank, Housing Finance Bank, Post Bank Uganda, KCB Uganda, Bank of Alexandria, and DTB. These banks serve as cash pickup points. Xpress Money and Ria pickup locations are commonly found in malls and supermarkets across the country.

Mobile Money Transfer

There are two dimensions to mobile money in Uganda. The first dimension is that you can send money from an online money transfer service such as WorldRemit direct to MTN Mobile Money, Warid Pesa, and Airtel Money accounts.

The other dimension about mobile money is that you can send from one mobile money service to another. Ugandans who live in Kenya can send money from their Mpesa mobile accounts to the MTN Mobile Money, Warid Pesa, and Airtel Money accounts of their recipients in Uganda.

The maximum amount you can send from Mpesa in one transaction is $700 dollars. When sending amounts greater than $700, you’ll have to split the transaction into two.

Airtime Recharges

Through WorldRemit and Xoom, you can send airtime to your friends and family in Uganda. The carriers supported include Orange, Warid Uganda, MTN Uganda, Africell, Airtel, Uganda Telecom, and Smart Uganda. It is free to send the airtime and the top up is instant.

What is Needed to Send Money to Uganda

Sending money to Uganda from whichever country is simple as long as you have all the required documents and information. Typically, you are to provide the following information.

• A government-issued photo ID document. Depending on the country you are sending from, you can use a passport, social security card or driver’s license.
• The recipient’s name as it appears on their legal documents
• The recipient’s physical address and phone number
• If you are sending directly to a bank account, the recipient bank details (bank name, branch and the account number)
• The amount of money you want to send, the transfer payment option and payout methods

For repeat transfers, you won’t have to give most of this information. The platform captures and can recall historical information.