The Award
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I For its outstanding service to clients, Wendi has been named the winner of the Financial Inclusion Impact Award at the FITSPA Industry Awards 2026, in recognition of its contribution to expanding access to affordable and inclusive financial services across Uganda.
The award was presented recently, during the World FinTech Day Uganda event held at Sheraton Kampala Hotel and organised by the Financial Technology Service Providers Association (FITSPA).
The 2026 awards were held as part of the World FinTech Day celebrations under the theme, “The Next Decade of Fintech: Infrastructure, Interoperability, and Trust for Inclusive Growth.”
The awards recognise organisations that are strengthening Uganda’s digital financial ecosystem through innovation, accessibility and trust.
Wendi, a mobile wallet developed by Pearl Bank, has emerged as an important channel for delivering digital financial services to underserved and last-mile customers.
Launched in November 2023, the wallet enables customers to save, send and receive money, pay bills, make merchant payments and manage group savings. Customers can also access Western Union services directly through the wallet, making international money transfers more convenient.
Wendi also offers a savings proposition through which customers can grow their money and earn interest of 12.5 percent per annum.
The platform currently serves more than one million customers and works with more than 13,000 agents across the country, extending digital financial services closer to communities.
The Award
Commenting on the recognition, Brenda Mpoora, Head of Fintech Business at Pearl Bank, said the award demonstrates the impact Wendi is making in bringing more Ugandans into the formal financial ecosystem.
“Wendi was created to simplify access to financial services for Ugandans. This recognition speaks to the progress we are making in removing barriers and delivering solutions that are fast, accessible, and reliable to our customers,” Mpoora said.
She added that the recognition also reflects Wendi’s efforts to use technology to reach more people and enable them to participate meaningfully in the economy.
“Wendi has an ongoing fuel campaign where customers can purchase fuel with zero transaction fees, and all those efforts are aimed at enabling digital financial inclusion where customers can transact anywhere and at anytime,” she said.
The wallet has also been used in collaboration with the Government of Uganda to support the implementation of public programmes, including payments of Parish Development Model funds to beneficiaries and the disbursement of relief funds to victims of the Bududa landslides.
Through such partnerships, Wendi has sought to demonstrate how digital financial platforms can provide efficient channels for delivering money to citizens while widening participation in the formal financial system.
The wallet is licensed under the National Payments System Act and can be accessed through Google Play, the App Store or USSD by dialling *229#.
The latest award adds to a growing list of accolades received by Wendi. It previously won the Fintech Partnership Award at the 2025 Annual Bankers Awards, the Best Digital Wallet award at the 2025 Africa Fintech and AI Awards and the Banking Innovation Excellence award at the 2024 HiPipo Digital Impact Awards Africa.
It also received a Gold accolade for Best Customer Experience at the 2023 Silverbacks Awards.
The recognition comes as Pearl Bank pursues a broader strategy of expanding financial inclusion and entrepreneurship in Uganda.
Pearl Bank’s heritage stretches back more than 28 years, with its journey beginning as the Post Office Savings Department in 1926 before evolving into PostBank Uganda Limited.
In 2023, the bank embarked on a five-year strategic plan aligned with its “Grow. Prosper” tagline and its purpose of fostering prosperity for Ugandans.
The bank’s strategy places sustainable financial inclusion and stimulation of entrepreneurship and services among its high-impact goals.
For Wendi, the FITSPA award reinforces its position as a digital platform seeking to bridge financial access gaps by bringing affordable, convenient and technology-driven financial services closer to Ugandans.
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