Wendi, a digital wallet, enabling savings and credit co-operatives (SACCOS) and group management while also expanding financial services to the unbanked to foster financial inclusion.
Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo, state minister for microfinance, launched Wendi at the Bukedea district headquarters on Tuesday 11th July 2023.
“With the majority of Ugandans living in rural areas, the government must find innovative ways to reach everyone.” “Digitalization is the way to go,” stated Kasolo.
He urged all Parish Development Model (PDM) program participants to use Wendi because it bridges the gap between the unbanked and the formal financial sector.
“And, when every adult Ugandan is included in the financial sector, the door to economic development opens.”
PDM SACCOS members will be able to access their money through phone from anywhere at any time with Wendi.
Wendi is the idea of MTN Uganda and the state-owned Postbank, with the goal of assisting PDM members in effectively and efficiently accessing and managing their accounts.
“I commend PostBank and MTN Uganda for voluntarily joining the Government of Uganda on this journey of social-economic transformation,” stated Kasolo.
To use Wendi services, you must first register with a mobile number and a national identification card.
Following that, one can transfer funds, save in PDM groups, get micro-loans, and deposit and withdraw money.
Prior to the introduction, PDM SACCOS members from Ngora, Kumi, and Bukedea districts were indoctrinated and enrolled in the Wendi system.
“It is very user-friendly, and we are treating it as a sigh of relief because we no longer have to deal with long lines at banking institutions,” Kamaluk – Kangole PDM SACCO chairperson Samuel Okiror said.
MTN Uganda CEO Sylvia Mulinge reaffirmed the company’s commitment to bringing the Wendi innovation to all regions of the country.
“We are here to supplement the government’s ongoing efforts to ensure a financially empowered society,” Mulinge explained.
PostBank managing director Julius Kakeeto stated that Ugandans in hard-to-reach places faced numerous obstacles in getting PDM services, prompting the creation of Wendi.
Moses Godfrey Otim, Bukedea district commercial officer, praised the government and partners for “thinking outside the box by bridging the glaring gap in PDM implementation thus far.”
Leaders from Ngora, Kumi, and Bukedea attended the occasion, as did executives from Housing Finance Bank, led by Angela Ndawula, the investment house’s head of business and industrial banking.
PDM is a multi-ministerial and state-agencies development model envisioned in the National Development Plan III.
In this case, the parish serves as the lowest administrative and operational centre, bringing services closer to the people and fostering local economic development.
The PDM program was established in Kibuku district in 2022, with the theme: Transition from Subsistence to Monetary Economy through Increased Production and Productivity for Improved Household Incomes and Livelihood.
The program aims to transition the 39% of Ugandans who are engaged in subsistence farming activity allocated at the parish level into the money economy.
