MTN MoMo and Airtel Money Charges in Uganda: What You Pay

In Uganda, sending mobile money is cheap. Taking it out as cash is where the charges add up.

Send UGX 60,000 to another MTN number and you pay UGX 500. Withdraw the same amount at an MTN agent and about UGX 1,800 is gone, because a 0.5% government tax is added to the agent fee. Below are the full MTN and Airtel Money tables, checked November 2026.

Quick comparison

How mobile money charges in Uganda work

Every time you move money on MTN MoMo or Airtel Money, up to three things can hit you:

1. The network's own fee. It's different for sending and withdrawing, and it rises in steps as the amount goes up.
2. Uganda's mobile money excise duty. It's a flat 0.5% government tax, but only when you take cash out at an agent, ATM or bank counter. It doesn't apply to sending money, paying a bill or moving money into a bank account.
3. Anything an agent adds on their own, which they're not supposed to do (more on that below).

Both networks publish their fees in tiers based on the amount, not as a flat percentage, so the exact shilling you pay depends on which band your transaction falls into.

MTN MoMo charges in Uganda

These are MTN's own published tariffs, checked on MTN Uganda's mobile money tariff page:

MTN also charges separately for sending straight to a bank account (from UGX 1,500 up to about UGX 11,300 on the largest band) and for paying utility bills like UMEME, NWSC, DStv and NSSF, which range from around UGX 190 to UGX 6,300 depending on the amount.

Airtel Money charges in Uganda

Airtel's own tariff page runs as an app in the browser and doesn't publish a plain fee table the way MTN's does, so the figures below come from two independent Uganda tariff trackers, MomoCalc and SenteGuide, whose numbers match each other to the shilling on every band:

The same 0.5% government levy from the MTN table applies to all these withdrawals too. It's a national tax, not something either network decides. Zambia does the opposite: its levy is on transfers, and withdrawals are levy-free, as our breakdown of Zambia's Airtel Money charges shows. If you're about to move a large one-off amount, check the current fee in the Airtel Money app or USSD menu, because comparison sites can be a few weeks behind a real change.

Which is cheaper, MTN MoMo or Airtel Money?

For cashing out, MTN is cheaper than Airtel, or the same, on every amount up to UGX 500,000. At UGX 125,000, for example, MTN's agent fee is UGX 1,925 and Airtel's is UGX 3,300, about 70% more. Above that it's mixed: Airtel is a little cheaper from UGX 500,001 to 1,000,000 (UGX 12,100 against MTN's 12,500) and above UGX 2,000,000 (UGX 18,000 against 20,000 at the top), while MTN is cheaper in between. That matters if you're paying a hardware supplier a big lump sum, like paying for cement and iron sheets when building a 3-bedroom house, which can easily run into millions in one payment. If you run a small business and cash out often in small to medium amounts, like a boda boda rider or the owner of a mobile money agent business, MTN MoMo works out cheaper over a month. An agent business also needs its own URA TIN, free online, before providers will approve the application. If you're the one running the till, see our Uganda MTN agent commission calculator for what MTN pays you per transaction, after the new withholding tax.

The 0.5% mobile money withdrawal tax, explained

Uganda first taxed mobile money in July 2018, at 1% on deposits, withdrawals and transfers. It sparked street protests in Kampala under the hashtag #ThisTaxMustGo, and within days the government cut it to 0.5%, on cash withdrawals only, as PC Tech Magazine reported at the time.

That 0.5% rate is still what you pay in 2026. Telecoms and MPs pushed to halve it to 0.25% in the 2026/27 tax proposals, but the Ministry of Finance dropped the idea. Permanent Secretary Ramathan Ggoobi confirmed in April 2026 that the cut "is not part of the upcoming financial year's revenue measures", The Observer reported. The same report notes that bank-to-wallet transfers are taxed differently, on the transfer fee itself, not with the 0.5% cash-out duty. Tanzania has a similar levy on mobile money cash-outs, but in rising shilling bands rather than a flat percentage: see M-Pesa Tanzania's charges and levy bands. In Cameroon, MTN charges no transfer fee at all, and a 0.2% tax applies to both sending and withdrawing: see MTN MoMo charges in Cameroon.

Sending to a bank account and paying bills

Because the 0.5% duty only applies to cash withdrawals, sending money to a bank account, paying a bill or buying airtime and bundles all avoid it. You only pay the network's transfer fee. On MTN, sending to a bank costs from UGX 1,500 for smaller amounts up to about UGX 11,300 above UGX 2,000,000. If you regularly move a business's takings into a bank, that's the cheaper route, and worth remembering if you're deciding where to keep savings alongside options in our Uganda investment guide.

Mobile money transaction and balance limits in Uganda

Bank of Uganda regulates how much you can hold and move on mobile money, and both networks currently apply the same limits:

• Minimum transaction: UGX 500
• Maximum single transaction: UGX 5,000,000
• Maximum wallet balance: UGX 20,000,000

These limits have been in place since the central bank last raised them on 1 March 2022, when the wallet balance cap moved up from UGX 15,000,000 and the daily transfer allowance rose from UGX 7,000,000 to UGX 20,000,000, Dignited reported at the time. Because the per-transaction cap is UGX 5,000,000, moving the full daily allowance takes at least four separate transactions.

How to cut your mobile money costs

• Send to a bank account instead of cashing out when you can. It avoids the 0.5% tax and, for larger amounts, often costs less than the agent fee. That helps if you run something like a small bakery business and take mobile money from customers all day.
• Withdraw less often, in bigger amounts. The fee gets smaller as a share of the money: MTN's UGX 330 fee on a UGX 2,500 withdrawal is over 13% of the cash, but on UGX 5,000,000, the UGX 20,000 fee is just 0.4%.
• Check the current fee before a big one-off payment. Use MTN's or Airtel's USSD menu rather than an old screenshot, because both networks change their fees from time to time.
• Compare networks for the amount you're moving, not out of habit. As shown above, which network is cheaper depends on how much you withdraw.
• If your salary is paid straight into MTN MoMo or Airtel Money, PAYE and NSSF were deducted before it arrived. See our breakdown of Uganda's PAYE tax bands and NSSF deductions to check your employer took off the right amount.
• Thinking about a loan instead of your own money? Most "quick loan" apps on Ugandan phones aren't licensed; see our guide to which loan apps in Uganda are licensed before you borrow from one you don't recognise.
• If the money is coming from abroad, skip the extra step. Apps like WorldRemit pay straight into MTN MoMo or Airtel Money, which is usually cheaper than a relative sending cash through a bank or Western Union. See our comparison of the cheapest ways to send money to Africa from the UK or US.

Scams and mistakes to avoid

• Agents charging above the published tariff. Both networks' rates are fixed; an agent adding an extra "service charge" on top isn't following MTN's or Airtel's rules. If one kiosk quotes more, try another.
• No SMS, no deal. Always wait for the confirmation SMS on your own phone before handing over cash or walking away. Don't rely on an agent's word or a screen you're shown.
• Reversal scams. Someone claiming they sent you money "by mistake" and pressuring you to send it straight back, or to click a link to "cancel" a transaction, is a common Kampala street scam. Genuine reversals go through your network or bank, never through a stranger's instructions.
• Double-check the number before you send. Network fees aren't refunded if you send to the wrong person, mobile money or bank.

Sent money to the wrong number? See how to reverse mobile money in Uganda.

Frequently asked questions

How much does MTN MoMo charge to withdraw UGX 100,000 in Uganda?

MTN's agent withdrawal fee for that amount is UGX 1,925, and the 0.5% government tax adds another UGX 500, so you'll pay about UGX 2,425 in total to cash out UGX 100,000. Plug in any other amount with our Uganda mobile money charges calculator.

Is Airtel Money's 0.5% withdrawal tax different from MTN's?

No. The 0.5% excise duty is a national tax on mobile money cash withdrawals set by the Uganda government, not a fee either network sets itself, so it's identical whether you cash out on MTN MoMo or Airtel Money.

Does sending money to my bank account get taxed like a cash withdrawal?

No. The 0.5% duty applies only to physical cash withdrawals at an agent, ATM or bank counter. Sending money to a bank account, paying a bill such as a health insurance premium, or transferring between mobile wallets are all exempt.

What's the biggest amount I can send or withdraw at once on mobile money in Uganda?

The maximum for a single transaction is UGX 5,000,000 on both MTN MoMo and Airtel Money, and your wallet can hold up to UGX 20,000,000 at any one time, under Bank of Uganda's current rules.

Will Uganda's mobile money tax drop to 0.25%?

No. The Ministry of Finance considered halving the rate as part of the 2026/27 tax proposals but shelved the idea in April 2026, so the 0.5% withdrawal tax continues unchanged.

Which is cheaper for withdrawing money, MTN MoMo or Airtel Money?

MTN MoMo, for any amount up to UGX 500,000. Above that the two take turns: Airtel is slightly cheaper from UGX 500,001 to 1,000,000 and above UGX 2,000,000, and MTN is cheaper between UGX 1,000,001 and 2,000,000.