Agent banking Although the number of deposit accounts held in commercial banks in Uganda has grown rapidly, tripling since 2005, commercial banks only serve 20 percent of the adult population, according the 2013 FINSCOPE survey. The provision of banking services involves substantial fixed costs, which is an obstacle to expanding services to the unbanked, especially in rural areas.
As such, an expansion of banking services requires new business models which can deliver services at much lower costs. One such model is agent banking. Agents are normally people with small businesses, who are contracted by the banks to undertake transactions on their behalf, such as collecting deposits, facilitating customer withdrawals and making payments, for a fee.