Uganda Telecom has joined other telecom companies like MTN and Zain in providing Mobile Commerce to its subscribers. M-sente Mobile Money can allow you to withdraw, deposit, transfer funds and also pay school fees. You can also buy airtime using the service.

The service is very similar to that of MTN and the beauty with these mobile money services is that you can send money to anyone with a mobile phone irrespective of whether they are registered or not. It does also not matter which network the person you are sending money is on.

Zain's Zap Money can be used to fuel at filling stations, access your bank account using the Zap service coupled with being able to send money to anyone in East Africa. MTN's mobile money and now UTL's m-Sente mobile money are focusing on sending and receiving money plus purchasing airtime using the service.

However one bit that continues to confuse most people who are not familiar with Mobile Money is how the money gets to the phone. I always compare it to how you load airtime on your cell phone. In most cases you will go to a shop/dealer and buy airtime. The same applies to depositing or withdrawing money on to your phone, you have to walk to an authorized agent to sign up, deposit or withdraw.

Otherwise, Mobile money is the cheapest and convenient way of sending money from one person to the other as compared to the traditional methods like Western Union, Moneygram, Electronic Funds Transfer especially if the amount involved is from Ugx 5,000 to Ugx 1,000,000/- which is the maximum amount to be sent by MTN for example.
Related: Mobile Commerce Hits Kampala