Want to open a bank account?

Q: How long does it take to open a bank account in Uganda?
Short A: A lot longer than you would think.

Long A: Once a year, I receive a disbursement from the University to go visit my students on their placement, intended to cover transportation costs and per diem.

I’ve been quite reluctant to open account here for several reasons, chief of them being IRS reporting and the fact that this only happens annually. However, this year, the University began to disburse funds electronically, and I had to open an account.

I changed banks while I was in the US, and that was a fairly quick and painless experience (my old bank levied a 3% charge on foreign ATM transactions, and when one draws her salary from the ATM, it’s a bit painful). I chose a large and well-known international bank for my Ugandan account, thinking that they would understand an expat account, and that the process would run fairly smoothly.

Silly me.

I went to the bank on Wednesday, 3 December, to open the account, armed with a letter from the University, my passport and passport photos, because they go on nearly everything as proof of identity. My new friend Peter completed the application for me (even commenting, “Eh! Happy birthday!”). For salary, he figured out how to explain that I don’t draw a salary from UCU, but receive this disbursement annually. He said he would call me with the account number. I took him at his word. Silly me.

The good folk in Accounts have been wanting this account number so they can disburse the funds and begin the process of closing their books. I stopped by the bank on Friday, thinking that perhaps Peter forgot to call. Nope. The application was sent back, because there was an error. So I signed a new application, and Peter assured me he would call me.

I stopped by the bank again on Tuesday, thinking that all was resolved. Silly me. The bank manager assured me that my application was among those that was being fast tracked. I went on Wednesday. Nothing. I stopped by the bank again on Friday (this time in my collar, as I had been supervising a student), as I’d still not heard anything. I’m sure that Peter and the bank manager were quite tired of me, but in my defense, often the way to get things done is to “be on their necks,” as we say. And I so I was.

Happily, Saturday afternoon, as I was driving to Soroti, the bank manager called to say that I had an account number. As I was driving, I couldn’t write it down, and she said she’d send an SMS. That never happened, so I called this morning, got the account number, then fairly ran to Accounts to give it to them. Next year, receiving the disbursement should be a seamless process.

Peter mentioned something about coming to the branch for my ATM card, and I had wondered whether I’d receive it in the mail, as we do in the US. I think I’ll go next week, just to be sure that it actually gets there.

To sum up: 10 calendar days to open an account. Lord, have mercy.