Bank to mobile wallet services suspended in Uganda over hacking

Uganda is currently facing a financial crisis as all bank to mobile wallet services in the country have been temporarily suspended. The biggest commercial bank in Uganda, Stanbic Bank Uganda, along with the two largest telecom companies, MTN Uganda and Airtel Uganda, announced to their clients that a third-party service provider experienced a system error on the 3rd of October, leading to a hacking incident that impacted bank to mobile wallet services. The extent of the financial loss resulting from the hack is yet to be disclosed by the affected institutions. However, the suspension of services has left customers without mobile banking options in a country where nearly half of the GDP flows through mobile money platforms daily. Journalist Raymond Mujuni shed light on the implications of this incident, highlighting the critical questions it raises about digital and financial security in the digital era. The response from the central bank, affected institutions, and the involved third-party aggregator, Pegasus, indicates a coordinated effort to address the cybersecurity breach and mitigate its impact on the economy and the SME ecosystem in Uganda. The incident underscores the vulnerability of mobile money platforms and the urgent need for robust security measures to protect depositors' funds and maintain trust in the banking space.