Debit/Credit Cards
Many of you may be familiar with Debit/Credit cards. One of your ATM cards is probably a Debit card. In Uganda, we do not have a lot of Credit cards like they do in the US, Europe and Asia. The major difference between a Credit and Debit card, is that the Credit card allows you to purchase goods and services on credit while the Debit card only allows you to purchase goods and services with money you already have on your card. A Debit card could be prepaid or linked to your bank account while a credit card is linked to provider and not necessarily yourself. There are a couple of banks in Uganda that offer Visa enabled debit/Credit cards and some of them include UBA, Equity Bank, Standard Chartered, Ecobank and Bank of Africa. This is the most popular method of online payment powered majorly by VISA and Mastercard; two of the many (most popular) payment processing providers in the world. You will know your card is a VISA or Mastercard by the icons/logos on the bottom right corner of your card. With these cards you can conveniently pay for goods and services electronically(online) or at the point of sale without needing to carry physical cash.
Paypal
Paypal is another method you can use to pay for goods and services online in Uganda. PayPal is a global online payments system that supports online money transfers and serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods like cheques and cash. The company operates as a payment processor for online vendors, auction sites and other commercial users. Paypal allows you to add your Credit/Debit card so that they process the payment on your behalf instead of having to provide your payment details to every vendor you transact with. This in a way adds another layer of security as Paypal helps you keep your account information secure. Even if many vendors accept Paypal, not all do.
Mobile Money
Many online shopping companies in Uganda accept mobile money as a form of payment especially because it has a deeper and wider penetration than Credit/Debit Cards powered by VISA and Mastercard. The telecoms have enabled a feature allowing you to pay a merchant/seller or send money directly to an individual/Merchant’s number. We are aware that Jumia, Killimall, GoodsExpress, Intralineonline and Intership all accept Mobile Money while using their platforms for online shopping.
Cash on Delivery (COD)
Some online shopping companies in Uganda accept Cash -On -Delivery (COD) but these are very few with most of them operating locally like Jumia and Jumia food. Those that allow you to shop online from global stores and ship to Uganda would not allow Cash On Delivery especially because of the obligations involved in online shipping. What we have observed though is that many of them especially for those who want to shop online and ship to Uganda can agree to a stipulated deposit in order to have select items shipped and the balance paid when the item arrives or upon delivery.
Cash
Some people do not have Visa cards to enable online payments for some services. Fortunately, some companies like GoodsExpress, Intralineonline, Intership, also accept cash at their offices. If you wanted to ship a particular item, you pay the cash and they ship the item for you.
Bank Transfer/Money Transfer
For certain shipments or shopping, especially where you are transferring large amounts of money, you can use a bank or money transfer. Banks offer EFTs (electronic funds transfer) RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) while Money transfer companies like Western Union, Moneygram also come in handy. This post is part of an ongoing e-commerce series by Dignited and it’s partner GoodsExpress.com. Subscribe below to get notified of new upcoming articles on online shopping in Uganda, E-commerce and the latest offers from GoodsExpress.
