In a bid to enhance efficiency as well as take services closer to the unbanked, PostBank Uganda Limited (PBU), has opened a new branch in Mukono District as well as three mini-branches in Rushere town in Kiruhura District; Kamdini town in Oyam District and Butogota town in Kanungu District.
“We received clearance from Bank of Uganda, and all the branches started operating on Monday, December 14th 2020,” Doreen Nyiramugisha, PBU Head of Marketing and Communications told this reporter by telephone.
The expansion brings to 47, the number of branches, serving over 1 million customers, making the financial institution, one of the largest by footprint.
In an October interview with CEO East Africa Magazine, Julius Kakeeto, the bank’s Managing Director, said that the expansion is part of the financial institution’s strategy to “strengthen the bank’s foundation so that it can optimize its potential and ably compete with the aggressive privately owned financial institutions.”
He also told the magazine that the expansion, alongside a rigorous staff restructuring, is “part of our journey of transforming PBU from a credit institution to a fully-fledged commercial bank.”
Kakeeto also said that as part of the drive towards a new PBU, the financial institution was in the process of revamping its self-service channels like the mobile application, USSD code (*263#) and internet banking.
He also said the bank was replacing its old and worn-out ATM network, switching them with smarter ATMs. The bank would also revamp its customer onboarding process, he said, with a view of making it shorter and pleasant.
He said these changes, tie into the bank’s “strategic objective of being a market leader in financial inclusion.”
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About PBU Uganda
PostBank Uganda (PBU) is a socially-oriented bank, wholly owned by the Government of Uganda. PBU was incorporated under the companies ACT in 1998. The bank’s mission is to offer affordable financial services that drive financial inclusion for social-economic development. The bank positions itself as a major lender to the Agriculture as well as Micro, Small and Medium-size enterprises (MSME), where an estimated 60% of Ugandans earn a living.
“By PBU focusing on Agriculture and MSMEs, we believe we are at the core of Uganda’s economic growth especially through food security, job creation and entrepreneurship,” Kakeeto says.
As at the end of 2019, the bank grew its assets by 23 per cent from UGX398 billion in 2018 to UGX491 billion- larger than that of 12 of the 26 tier 1 commercial banks. The growth was on the back of UGX267.1 billion in lending and UGX348 billion in deposits.
The bank in 2019 made a profit of UGX8.4 billion- making the tier II financial institution more profitable than 15 tier 1 commercial banks.
The bank is also among the top lenders in the agriculture sector, with 25% of its portfolio dedicated to the sector. In 2019, it extended 8,300 agriculture loans to 56,000 borrowers.
