Bank of Uganda has introduced over-the-counter cash withdrawal limits and halved interbank cheque thresholds across five currencies, effective 1 January 2027, in the most sweeping tightening of Uganda’s payment system rules in years.
The measures, contained in two circulars dated 29 May 2026, mark the first time the central bank has set system-wide OTC withdrawal limits.
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Individual accounts will be capped at UGX 50 million (US$13,245) per day and UGX 250 million per week while corporate accounts face a daily ceiling of UGX 500 million (US$132,450) and a weekly limit of UGX 2.5 billion.
The new rules fully exempt RTGS, Electronic Funds Transfers, and mobile money.
Interbank cheque limits have beencut by 50%. Uganda shilling cheques fall from UGX 10 million to UGX 5 million. US dollar limits drop from US$2,750 to US$1,375, euro limits from €2,250 to €1,125, pound sterling from £2,200 to £1,100, and Kenya shilling limits from KSh 300,000 to KSh 150,000. The cuts apply to interbank cheques only; intra-bank transactions are unaffected.
The directives close out Uganda’s National E-Payments Strategy 2021-2026 and signal a shift from facilitation to compulsion. BoU data shows electronic money transaction values rose 28.6% in the year to June 2025 to UGX 326.3 trillion, with volumes up 20.6% to 8.4 billion transactions. Active mobile money users stood at 36.7 million in Q1 2026, supported by over one million licensed agents nationally.
Cash, however, remains entrenched in agriculture, artisanal mining, and the informal economy. BoU acknowledged this, naming both sectors in its circular and allowing supervised financial institutions to apply for discretionary waivers subject to enhanced due diligence.
MTN Uganda and Airtel Uganda are the clearest near-term beneficiaries as the caps push high-volume cash users toward mobile money rails. The policy faces a live contradiction with a government proposal to reduce the mobile money excise duty from 0.5% to 0.25% being rejected ahead of the 2026/27 budget, leaving transaction costs on digital channels higher than cash for small-value users.
Civil society groups have warned the levy is pushing low-income Ugandans back to cash, working against the very agenda the new limits are designed to advance.
A six-month public awareness campaign will precede the January 2027 effective date.
