The best current account for you will depend on a few factors, I rounded up the 5 most important ones for you.
Reputation
This should be one of the first filters for choosing a current account. If a bank is consistently in scandals or receiving bad reviews from your friends and other people, no perks will make it worth it however good they might seem. Another thing to consider for banks in Uganda (and Africa) is how long you think the bank will stay around, as every so often we have banks going into receivership. My rule of thumb is to stick with a bank that has been around for at least 30 years and operates outside Uganda as well. Secondly, the bank should be registered with the Deposit Protection Fund of Uganda so that you get back some money even if the bank goes bankrupt. The higher the amount in protection, the better.
Fees
While it’s still a novel idea in Uganda for many banks, I still stand by the idea that a basic current account shouldn’t come with monthly ledger fees or a minimum balance requirement. Yet, many banks still charge for this. The only reason to pay monthly bank fees is if the account comes with perks like insurance, credit cards, etc. There’s a couple of banks in Uganda, including my favourite that have done away with these fees for one of their account offerings. Next consider transactional fees like withdrawal fees (via network ATMS, out-of-network ATMs, Mobile Money fees, banking halls, etc), international transaction fees, standing order fees, amongst others. Look at the transactions that you do or plan to do regularly and compare how much you will be charged for them at the bank. Since I work and travel abroad, international ATM withdrawal fees was something I considered seriously. If you do a lot of business transactions in the banking hall, don’t get an account that charges you for that.
User experience
Your user experience with your current account is very important because you’re always transacting out of this account. It’s the account that your cheque book and debit card are attached to. It has to be convenient to get money in and out of the account at the bank branch, through the ATM network, with POS machines and through online banking. It is increasingly becoming imperative to have user-friendly online platforms and mobile apps as many customers are moving to digital banking. My rule of thumb is to have an account with a bank whose services I can access on my mobile phone and with a bank card (VISA or Mastercard) that I can use to access most ATMs at home and abroad.
Convenience
Just as important, is the ease of banking to do your daily transactions. If you carry out a lot of banking hall transactions, having a strictly digital account will not cut it. Nor will having an account with a bank whose branches are few and far between. In this case, you could decide to pay a monthly ledger fee strictly for convenience. But as someone starting out with your first “serious” bank account, the benefits like zero fees matter more than how many ATMs are in your neighbourhood. Convenience also applies to if you want to have a savings account in the same bank or in another, and whether dealing with two banks instead of one this will cause headaches for you.
Interest Rate
This is the only thing on this list that I will tell you doesn’t matter.
Some banks use the interest rates on their current accounts as a marketing gimmick. But getting an extra 1% on this account doesn’t matter. Whatever the bank says the interest rate is, it is still effectively zero. Firstly, because it usually comes with many hidden “terms and conditions” regarding minimum balance and transactions. Secondly, there’s no reason you should have so much money sitting around in your current account. Put it in a Fixed Deposit or normal savings account if you need the money for a near-future large transaction. You’ll be getting a much higher interest rate with those accounts than anything a current account will offer you. My rule of thumb is to keep only enough money in my current account to prevent me from regularly dipping into my savings account to pay for things.