BoU urges WorldRemit clients to submit claims
KAMPALA– The Bank of Uganda [BoU] on Monday asked WorldRemit customers to submit to it the outstanding claims of monies given for remittance purposes to WorldRemit Money Transfer [U] Limited by July 18, 2022.
“Customers with outstanding claims for monies given to WorldRemit Money Transfer [U] Limited for remittance purposes should submit the claims, with evidence, to the office of the Director Non-Bank Financial Institutions Department at Bank of Uganda by July 18, 2022,” BoU said in a public notice.
Pursuant to regulation 19 [3] of the Foreign Exchange [Forex Bureaus and Money Remittance] Regulations, 2006, the Bank of Uganda hereby informs the public that WorldRemit Money Transfer [U] Limited voluntarily ceased to carry on money remittance business, BoU added.
However, BoU noted that the closure of WorldRemit Money Transfer [U] Limited will not affect WorldRemit money remittance product offered by several supervised financial institutions in Uganda.
“Bank of Uganda assures the public that it will continue to safeguard the stability and integrity of the financial sector.”
In May 2022, WorldRemit announced that effective June 6, 2022, it would not be facilitating any new outbound / send transactions from Uganda. “Customers receiving funds in Uganda are not affected by this decision and will be able to continue to receive funds via the WorldRemit service without disruption through the company’s existing partner work.”
A spokesperson from WorldRemit said: “It is our continued goal to ensure we are offering the greatest value for our customers around the world, and to do so, we occasionally have to make difficult decisions that impact a small number of customers. As part of our strategy, we have therefore decided to no longer support outbound money transfers from Uganda, as well as a handful of other countries across the world. Customers in these countries will however continue to be able to receive money through WorldRemit from abroad.”
WorldRemit, one of the biggest money transfer platforms, has denied rumours that it decided to close shop in Uganda due to money laundering isssues, saying its decision to leave Uganda is purely a matter of business strategy.
While appearing before the finance committee of parliament in January this year, Sydney Asubo, the executive director of the Financial Intelligence Authority [FIA], disclosed Uganda risked being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force [FATF] if the government did not tackle money laundering activities by May 2022.
Asubo also informed the committee that Uganda had been placed under the grey list by the Financial Action Task Force. According to Asubo, placing the country on the grey list was already affecting people because of the excessive scrutiny that now came with the transfer of funds, most especially through banks.
https://thecooperator.news/depositors-rush-to-withdraw-their-money-as-afriland-first-bank-closes/
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