Financial institutions in Uganda are gaining access to new tools aimed at strengthening the fight against financial crime as global credit information company Creditinfo launches its identity verification and fraud prevention platform in the country.
The solution focuses on helping banks, fintechs and other organisations improve Know Your Customer (KYC) processes, detect fraudulent transactions and comply with anti–money laundering regulations in an increasingly digital financial environment.
Uganda’s digital economy has expanded rapidly in recent years, with increased use of mobile money, digital banking and online financial services.
While this growth has improved financial inclusion and convenience, it has also created new opportunities for fraudsters.
Institutions are now facing increasingly complex threats such as identity theft, account takeover, mule accounts and online scam payments.
These challenges have made identity verification and fraud monitoring more critical than ever.
The newly introduced system works by analysing multiple sources of data to confirm the identity of customers during onboarding.
These include credit bureau records, government information systems and other registries that help organisations confirm whether a person presenting identification is legitimate.
The rollout comes as Uganda continues strengthening its financial integrity framework.
The country recently made significant progress in improving its anti–money laundering regime and was removed from increased monitoring by the Financial Action Task Force.
However, as digital financial services continue to grow, regulators and institutions alike are under pressure to ensure safeguards keep pace with technological developments.
The platform combines identity verification tools, digital risk signals and international and domestic watchlists to help organisations identify potentially suspicious individuals or transactions before accounts are opened or financial services are provided.
Beyond verifying identities during onboarding, the platform also introduces transaction monitoring features that can detect suspicious account activity.
These tools can identify patterns associated with mule accounts, flag unusual financial behaviour and detect authorised push payment fraud a type of scam where victims are tricked into transferring money to criminals.
The system also uses device intelligence and global data networks to detect attempts to take over accounts or submit fraudulent applications.
Uganda becomes the latest African market to adopt the system after its rollout in Kenya in 2025.
The Ugandan version has been adapted to address local regulatory requirements and the risk environment facing financial institutions in the country.
Industry experts say stronger identity verification tools are becoming essential as financial systems move further into digital platforms.
Developers of the platform say the goal is to strengthen fraud prevention while maintaining easy access to financial services.
As more Ugandans join the formal financial system through digital channels, financial institutions are seeking solutions that improve security without making it harder for legitimate customers to open accounts or access services.
With Uganda’s digital payments sector continuing to expand, analysts say tools that improve trust, security and compliance will play a key role in sustaining growth across the financial sector.