National Payment Systems Regulations, 2021

The National Payment Systems Regulations, 2021, made by the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development on the advice of the Bank of Uganda (BoU) under the National Payment Systems Act, 2020 and published in the Statutory Instruments Supplement of 5 March 2021, are the principal subsidiary instrument operationalising Uganda's payment systems regime. They prescribe the detailed application, licensing, capital and conduct requirements for payment system operators, payment service providers and electronic money issuers. Scope and applicability: the Regulations apply to all applicants for, and holders of, licences under the Act, operators of payment systems, providers of payment services and issuers of payment instruments (including e-money). They set out licence classes and the minimum capital attaching to each. Reported thresholds are calibrated by category: for example, the lowest threshold for an operator of an electronic funds transfer system is approximately UGX 100 million, while an electronic money issuer faces a higher threshold of approximately UGX 250 million, with larger systemically significant operators required to hold substantially more. Core obligations: applicants must demonstrate fit-and-proper directors and shareholders, adequate minimum capital, sound governance and risk management, technology and security standards, business continuity arrangements, and AML/CFT controls. E-money issuers must maintain customer funds in a trust account fully backing e-money in issue, segregate those funds from their own assets, and reconcile balances. The Regulations impose consumer-protection duties, disclosure of fees and terms, complaints handling, and protection of customer data, and require interoperability, transaction reporting and periodic returns to the BoU. They also govern outsourcing, system changes, and incident notification. Supervision and enforcement: the BoU supervises licensees through reporting, inspection and audit, and may impose conditions, corrective directions, administrative penalties, and suspension or revocation of licences for non-compliance. Together with the National Payment Systems (Agents) Regulations, 2021 and the National Payment Systems (Sandbox) Regulations, 2021, this instrument forms the core of Uganda's payment systems rulebook under the 2020 Act.

1. 1Prescribes licence classes and application requirements for payment system operators, payment service providers and e-money issuers
2. 2Minimum capital calibrated by category (e.g. ~UGX 100 million for an e-funds transfer operator; ~UGX 250 million for an e-money issuer)
3. 3Fit-and-proper, governance, risk-management, technology, security and business-continuity requirements
4. 4E-money issuers must hold customer funds in a trust account fully backing e-money in issue, segregated from own assets
5. 5Consumer protection: fee/term disclosure, complaints handling, data protection; interoperability and reporting duties
6. 6BoU oversight through returns, inspection and audit, with power to impose penalties, conditions, suspension or revocation