In a bid to reduce the use of paper in the Bank, Barclays Uganda has introduced what they are calling paperless banking. Under the new service you do not need to fill out forms when depositing cash or a cheque. All you have to do is provide the cash or check to the teller and give them the details needed. You are then required to sign on a Wacom device that captures your signature digitally and a receipt of your transaction is given to you.
The service is being rolled out progressively at various Barclays branches with a goal of having all their branches go paperless. This is clearly a great innovation and Barclays Uganda has been one of the Banks leading innovation in banking. One of their products is the cardless banking where Barclays customers can deposit or send funds to anyone in Uganda even if they are not a Barclays customer.
For example a Barclays customer seeking to send money to a friend would deposit the money and input details of the recipient like phone number amount to be sent etc. A code is then generated which the recipient uses to access the money at any Barclays ATM countrywide. Non Barclays customers can also deposit funds using the ATM without the need for a card which helps avoid queues at the bank.
A huge thumbs up goes to Barclays for the paperless service and attempts at saving trees but since they still have to dish out a receipt, it means paper is still being used. We understand that it is a requirement to provide a receipt but I am sure some customers wouldn’t mind a receipt via email that they can choose to print if need be. That approach may further reduce the paper used by may be an additional 5%.
The telecoms should follow suite by going paperless on Airtime cards among other products they offer.