SafeBoda is off to a great start in 2022! The app, which is well-known for its ride-hailing and convenient service delivery, has been granted two licenses to offer payment services, including mobile money services to Ugandans.
SafeBoda — which operates as Guinness Tech Uganda Limited — has been approved by the Bank of Uganda to issue small electronic money transfers as well as run medium funds transfers, according to a tweet from Fitspa Uganda, the organisation representing Uganda’s local and global fintech ecosystem.
SafeBoda will be able to facilitate money transfers between app users as well as allow customers to withdraw funds quickly at agent locations. Customers will be able to make payments on the app through the addition of more payment capabilities to the company’s already existing offerings.
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Clearance of Yaka! bills, water bills, and tax payments are only a few of the possible payment alternatives.
The news comes less than a month after Google named SafeBoda as the first recipient of its $50 million Africa Investment Fund, a venture that would help the company expand its FinTech offerings.
The money will help SafeBoda “push its expansion in Uganda and Nigeria, scaling its transportation-led software to offer new payment and financial services solutions for its expanding range of customers: passengers, drivers, and merchants,” according to the company.
Around the same time, SafeBoda and Posta Uganda collaborated on a solution called ‘SafePosta,’ which allows clients to enjoy premium delivery services based on Posta’s years of experience and SafeBoda’s infrastructure.
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Customers will be able to order delivery services from the comfort of their homes and offices using the existing SafeBoda App, which is installed on over 1,000,000 devices.
Uganda’s National Payments Systems Act of 2020 demands that no one can provide a payment service, operate a payment system, or issue a payment instrument without first obtaining a license from the central bank.
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Any person who defies this risks an imprisonment period of not more than four years, including having to immediately stop offering such payment services. The person will also be barred from ever obtaining a license again from the central bank.
The central bank is mandated to grant the license within sixty days from the date of the application for a licence.
The law also created a regulatory sandbox regime, for those who want to test-run innovative financial products or services without obtaining a license.
Safeboda mobile money Uganda Safeboda mobile money Uganda
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer