Stanbic Bank Uganda has announced a transformative partnership with FinCom Technologies, creators of the SchoolPay platform, to launch the country’s first fully digital lending solution for schools.
The collaboration gives thousands of private education institutions instant access to pre-scored, cashflow-aligned financing directly through the SchoolPay platform, which they already use to manage tuition payments.
This initiative marks a major leap forward in modernising education finance—an area long constrained by manual paperwork, delayed credit assessments, and the economic aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic.
SchoolPay currently serves more than 15,000 schools and processes over half of all private-sector tuition payments in Uganda.
With this integration, Stanbic Bank becomes the first financial institution to embed credit functionality into the platform, strengthening its leadership in education banking.
Stanbic Bank framed the partnership as part of a broader national development agenda aimed at revitalising a sector that endured one of the world’s longest Covid-19 shutdowns. Though many schools survived through resilience and community support, financial recovery remains uneven.
Tunde Thorpe, Executive Head of Business & Commercial Banking at Stanbic Bank Uganda, said the digital lending solution is designed to remove longstanding barriers to credit access.
“For nearly two years during the Covid-19 shutdown, Uganda’s schools faced unprecedented financial strain. Many institutions are still recovering. This partnership allows us to extend credit in a way that is simple, digital, and aligned with the real cashflow patterns of schools,” Thorpe said.
Through the platform, schools can now access financing of up to shs1 billion without visiting a branch, monitor loan status in real time, and eliminate delays associated with traditional paper-based processes. For many school proprietors, this marks a shift from slow, manual workflows to lending that is immediate, transparent, and predictable.
FinCom Technologies Board Chairman, Joseph Ndiho, said the partnership aligns with FinCom’s mission to build technology that addresses structural challenges in the education sector.
“Together with Stanbic Bank, we are making credit more accessible, fully digital, and aligned with the day-to-day realities of school operations,” Ndiho noted.
He explained that digitising school finance extends beyond convenience; it enhances financial visibility, reduces leakages, and strengthens long-term planning for institutions employing thousands of teachers and support staff.
Harriet Senkaali, Commissioner for Private Schools & Institutions at the Ministry of Education, welcomed the initiative, saying it expands financial transparency and efficiency.
“Integrating affordable, timely credit onto the same platform is a natural and welcome progression. We commend Stanbic Bank and SchoolPay for providing solutions that support better learning environments and institutional stability.”
The partnership is anchored in Stanbic Bank’s Positive Impact Framework, which integrates financial inclusion, enterprise growth, infrastructure investment, climate resilience, and social investment into its strategy.
By enabling schools to access capital for classroom upgrades, ICT facilities, sanitation improvements, or budget stabilisation, the partnership strengthens the country’s human capital base.
Celebrating 35 years of supporting Uganda’s growth, Stanbic Bank reaffirmed its commitment to prioritising sectors crucial to national competitiveness, with education at the forefront as a driver of inclusive development and economic resilience.