The Bank of Uganda (BoU) has shut down key national payment systems for four days to undertake a major upgrade of the country’s financial infrastructure, a move that will temporarily disrupt interbank transfers, electronic funds transfers and cheque clearing.
The shutdown, which takes effect at 5pm on Thursday, November 5, will affect the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), Automated Clearing House (ACH) and Central Securities Depository (CSD) platforms. The services are expected to resume at 9am on Monday, November 9, 2026.
In a notice, the central bank said the temporary shutdown was necessary to facilitate a planned upgrade aimed at strengthening the efficiency, reliability and resilience of Uganda’s national payment infrastructure.
“The services are being temporarily closed to facilitate a planned system upgrade intended to strengthen the efficiency, reliability, and resilience of the national payments infrastructure,” BoU said.
The interruption will affect high-value payments processed through RTGS, Electronic Funds Transfers (EFTs) and interbank cheque clearing and settlement services.
The shutdown is likely to require businesses, government agencies and financial institutions with time-sensitive payment obligations to adjust their transaction schedules to avoid delays.
BoU has consequently advised customers and institutions to identify critical payments and process them before the scheduled closure.
The centralbank asked clients to submit payment instructions for the affected services by 4pm on Thursday, November 5, to allow sufficient time for internal processing before the shutdown.
However, the central bank has clarified that the shutdown will not affect all banking and electronic payment services.
“Mobile money, ATMs, over-the-counter transactions, and transferring money between accounts in the same bank will not be affected,” BoU said.
This means customers will still be able to withdraw cash from ATMs, make mobile money transactions and transfer funds between accounts held at the same financial institution.
However, customers have been advised to contact their respective banks to establish whether particular transactions depend on the affected systems and to seek guidance on alternative arrangements.
The central bank also addressed concerns about transactions initiated before the shutdown but not settled by the time the systems are closed.
“The treatment of pending or unsettled transactions will be communicated by the Bank of Uganda to RTGS participants once the operational arrangements have been confirmed,” it said.
BoU added that it would keep participating financial institutions and other affected stakeholders informed if the restoration takes longer than scheduled.
“An official restoration notice will be issued after the responsible technical and operational teams confirm that the service is available,” the central bank said.
The RTGS system facilitates the transfer and settlement of large-value payments between banks, while the ACH processes electronic funds transfers and other interbank payment instructions, including cheque clearing.
The systems are critical to the smooth functioning of Uganda’s financial sector because they facilitate the movement of money between financial institutions and support payments by businesses, government agencies and other economic players.
