Have you ever needed to deposit a large amount of cash, but the bank is so far away that you decide to keep the money for a little while? Then, somehow, you start spending it until it disappears? In Uganda, Interswitch is trying to make that journey to the bank less necessary.
What happened? On November 4, Interswitch East Africa and Housing Finance Bank (HFB) launched a partnership that adds the bank to Quickteller’s agency banking network. Customers can deposit money into their HFB accounts through participating agents, withdraw cash using their debit cards at point-of-sale terminals, and check their account balances
Explain like I’m new here: Agency banking is like the agent networks operated by OPay and Moniepoint in Nigeria, using neighbourhood businesses as convenient access points for financial services. Uganda is already seeing the model take off. Bank of Uganda figures show agent banking transactions rose 76.1% to UGX29.4 trillion ($7.2 billion) in 2025, from UGX16.7 trillion ($4.1 billion) in 2024. The number of transactions also rose50.5%, reaching 12.5 million in the year to June 2025.
Why this matters: HFB has about 22 branches across Uganda. Quickteller’s 23,000-strong agent network lets it reach customers beyond those locations without building and maintaining a branch in every town. Interswitch stands to gain, too. More banking services on its network could mean more customers visiting Quickteller agents, more transactions for the platform, and additional business for outlet operators.
The partnership has already processed more than UGX49 billion ($12.1 million) in transactions during its pilot phase, according to HFB’s chief operating officer, Robert Kusiima. The bank has not disclosed how long the pilot lasted, how many customers used it,, or how many transactions made up that figure.