PostBank enters tier one territory for banks

PostBank Uganda has officially announced its ascension to tier one status after receiving a license from the Bank of Uganda.

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The bank, as mandated by the law, shall no longer be categorized as a credit institution but as a deposit taking financial institution that gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit.

Top officials from the bank told journalists on Dec.15 in Kampala that they are ready to innovate and come up with new products to favourably compete with the rest of the players in the market.

The bank has a total of 1.2 million customers but only about 650, 000 are categorised as active according to Julius Kakeeto, the managing director.

Tier one means that PostBank can now offer more services including acceptance of call, demand, savings, and time deposits withdrawable by cheque or otherwise, provision of overdrafts and short to medium term loans, provision of foreign exchange facilities and acceptance and discounting of bills of exchange.

The bank can also do provision of financial and investment advice, participate in inter-bank clearing systems, give guarantees, bonds, or other forms of collateral, and accept and place third party drafts and promissory notes connected with operations in which they take part.

“This means we can offer services on a deeper scale,” Kakeeto said.

The license issued by the Central Bank shall remain in force until revoked by the Bank of Uganda.

Kakeeto said, over the last 18 months, they rolled out measures that would strengthen the bank’s capacity with the new management’s goal being to strengthen PostBank’s foundation.

He said, efforts have been put in place including digital transformations, human resource and corporate governance enhancement, will all improve customer experience and make the bank grow.

“With these changes at the bank, it was inevitable that the institution would optimize its potential and ably compete with the aggressive privately owned financial institutions,” Kakeeto said.

He also said, over the past years, they have been building the foundation to achieve the new milestone.

A rigorous restructuring process gave the institution a competitive edge with a new Board of Directors and several top-class bankers joining the senior management team.

The bank was in 2020, also able to make a net profit of Shs10bn, which is the highest in the bank’s history.

Management has focused on improving risk management, strengthening governance, customer experience, enforcing compliance and kickstarting the bank’s digital journey, in addition to capacity building for the workforce.

Its board chairman, Andrew Otengo Owiny revealed that becoming tier one marks the end of a 13-year journey that began in 2008.

“The Bank owes this milestone to its customers, staff, shareholders and all the external stakeholders who have supported this journey,” he said, “I would like to pledge the Board of Directors continued support, to give vision and work with our stakeholders, until PostBank becomes the top financial institution in the country.”

He said, the bank remains committed to transforming the lives and livelihoods of Ugandans through offering affordable and sustainable financial solutions.

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