Diamond Trust Bank has announced its partnership with Mastercard to increase financial inclusion in the eleven districts of Uganda’s West Nile region. These districts include Arua, Koboko, Yumbe, Zombo, Maracha, Nebbi, and Adjumani among others.
The drive intends to increase the usage of formal banking services in the region through use of affordable banking services backed by state of the art DTB Platinum Debit Mastercard.
Communities in Uganda’s West Nile region will be transformed to appreciate and utilize formal banking services with minimal cash handling while doing business or any form of financial transaction. Customers will be utilizing the DTB Platinum Debit Mastercard to make payments locally and internationally.
The DTB Platinum Mastercard offers a vast array of benefits to cardholders namely, access, security, convenience, control, and lastly recognition. The DTB Platinum Debit Mastercard offers more distinguished and personal services that have been hand-picked for its customers, including lifestyle, travel, and peace of mind benefits.
Speaking during the drive event at Hotel La Confidential, Arua, Uganda, DTB Managing Director, Varghese Thambi, revealed that over 50 people have been recruited to sensitize and enroll communities in the region into formal banking. These will be signed up on the DTB Digital Banking savings account which will automatically give them a DTB Platinum Debit Mastercard.
According to Thambi, this partnership and drive aligns with the bank’s commitment to ensuring quality banking services and access to everyone in the West Nile Region and Uganda at large.
“We believe financial inclusion and access to banking service is a right that everyone should enjoy. The products we are introducing in the region are accessible through over 22,000 agents on a shared banking platform, ATM, POS and usable by everyone. These will change your financial experience as they are very affordable for all to utilize,” said Varghese Thambi, Managing Director, DTB.
Hon. Evelyn Anite, Minister of State Privatization, and Investment was present during the drive roll-out event where she signed up as a customer and received a DTB Platinum Debit Mastercard. Hon. Anite urged communities in West Nile to embrace banking services and utilize cash free facilities like Mastercard for ease of doing business that are secure for customers.
According to Shehryar Ali, Country Manager for East Africa, Mastercard, the collaboration with DTB comes at a time when access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet the needs of individuals and businesses is more critical than ever as we move towards the advancement of a cashless society. This further supports Mastercard’s goal of including 1 billion people and 50 million micro and small businesses into the digital economy by 2025.
“Mastercard is committed to providing digital solutions that help customers make safe and seamless transactions. We are proud to collaborate with DTB Uganda to enhance the drive to access financial services enabling more people to enter the digital economy. The cards space is fast-evolving globally, and as a leader in the payments technology industry, we will continue to innovate to always provide our customers with the best solutions and experiences,” said Shehryar Ali, Country Manager for East Africa, Mastercard.
As part of the peace of mind feature of the card, DTB provides some of the most comprehensive protections to take care of their cardholders both at home and away, including an array of travel insurances (inconvenience & cancellation, medical, lost luggage) as well as purchase protections (extended warranty and price protection).
Customers who sign up for the launched services will be able to access financial services at over 22,000 agents across Uganda, 34 DTB Branches and other Bank ATMs branded with Mastercard. Mastercard service is available in over 210 countries.
Diamond Trust Bank Uganda (DTBU) is an affiliate of the Aga Khan Development fund. DTB has presence in Kenya, Tanzania, and Burundi. DTBU has 34 branches, 51 ATMs and over 600 agents across the country. Founded in 1946, DTB is regulated by the Bank of Uganda and offers an array of banking services to the population. DTB’s mission; Make the customers prosper, staff excel and create value for their stakeholders.
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Its mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart, and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, their innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments, and businesses realize their greatest potential.
