If you fixed your hard earned Shs 1 million in GT Bank, after a year the bank will give you profit of Shs 90,000 on your deposit. It could be lower if you factor in taxes and other fees.
However if you fixed the same amount with Diamond Trust Bank over the same period, you stand to gain a profit of Shs 140,000.
In both banks, the minimum amount of money you can fix is Shs 100,000.
For KCB and Standard Chartered Bank, you can’t open a fixed deposit account with less than Shs 10 million. KCB’s interest rate on the fixed deposit is negotiable while Standard Chartered Bank offers up to 14%, same as Diamond Trust Bank
These and other disparities are contained on a list of bank charges released by the supervision department of Bank of Uganda.
The central bank periodically releases these lists to promote transparency and give customers clues as on which of the 24 commercial bank to do business with on particular issues. The last list was released in October 2023 and it is the basis for our analysis.
For the average bank customer in Uganda, their idea of whether a bank is cheap or expensive depends on the fees charged on the various services.
Minimum balance
For instance, many Ugandans seeking to open savings account would want to know the minimum balance required by the different banks.
In Uganda, the cheapest bank to open an account in is Finance Trust Bank which requires you to deposit only Shs 2500 money that can buy half a kilogramme of sugar.
The most expensive is Eco Bank where the minimum balance is Shs 100,000 equivalent to 20kg of sugar.
At Centenary bank and Bank of Africa, the minimum balance required is Shs 5,000, which is equivalent to 2GB of data on Airtel.
Loan application fees
Some banks will charge a percentage of the loan amount as application fee. Others like ABC Capital Bank charge Shs 150,000 to process a loan.
Absa bank charges one Shs 15,000 for the dame service while Standard Chartered Bank will charge Shs 20,000.
Finance Trust Bank will charge you between 20,000 and 80,000 to process your loan.
The loan application fee is usually deducted from the final loan amount. So if you apply for 2 million, the money you will receive will be slightly less depending on the bank.
ATM charges
Use of ATM Machines in Uganda is so widespread because it fast and convenient for the customer. In fact some banks charge customers extra for withdrawing money through the bank counter, a way of encouraging them to use ATM cards. And they are a gold mine for the bank.
ABC Capital Bank charges the highest ATM withdraw fees which is Shs 1500. So every time if you withdraw money at their ATM, the charge you money that can buy a simple rolex (with one egg).
Centenary Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and many others charge Shs 1,000.
Yet the bank with the lowest withdraw fee is GT Bank which charges Shs 800.
And you better hold onto that ATM card tightly because the cost of replacing it in banks like Bank of Baroda will buy alcohol lovers five bottles of beer at a relatively comfortable bar: It is Shs 25,000.
At Shs 10,000 Exim Bank is the cheapest when it comes to replacing ATM card.
Bank charges and other strict requirements have in the past been listed as barriers to opening bank accounts. Uganda has an estimated 20 million bank accounts although many of them are dormant.
