KAMPALA: Stanbic Bank Uganda has launched ‘Stay Switched On’, a new anti-fraud awareness campaign aimed at equipping customers with the knowledge and tools needed to protect themselves against the growing threat of digital and cyber-enabled financial fraud.
Speaking at the launch, Stanbic Bank Head of Coverage, Sam Bulenzi, said safeguarding customers’ finances is central to the bank’s broader commitment to supporting Uganda’s economic transformation.
“At Stanbic Bank, we believe that driving Uganda’s growth is our moral obligation but this goes beyond financing businesses and enabling transactions. It also means protecting our customers from the growing threat of financial fraud,” Bulenzi said.
“You cannot build wealth, grow businesses or strengthen the economy if the gains people make are constantly at risk of being lost to fraud. The ‘Stay Switched On’ campaign is about empowering Ugandans with the knowledge they need to bank safely and confidently in an increasingly digital world.”
The campaign is anchored in the bank’s purpose, ‘Uganda is our home, we drive her growth’, recognising that sustainable economic growth depends not only on expanding access to financial services, but also on protecting the wealth that individuals and businesses have worked hard to build.
In recent years, Uganda’s financial sector has experienced rapid growth in digital banking and electronic payments, creating greater convenience and access to financial services. However, the expansion has also exposed customers to increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes.
Stephen Adatu, the Vice Chairperson of the Fraud and Forgery Subcommittee at the Uganda Bankers Association, said digital and cyber-related fraud now accounts for nearly one-third of all fraud cases reported within the banking industry, making customer awareness an increasingly important component of financial security.
He noted that fraud remains a challenge across the entire financial sector and requires a collective response from financial institutions, customers and other stakeholders.
“Fraud is an industry-wide challenge. Initiatives such as the ‘Stay Switched On’ campaign are important because they help shift fraud prevention from being viewed solely as the responsibility of banks to becoming a shared responsibility between financial institutions and customers,” Adatu said.
Stanbic Bank’s Head of Fraud Risk, Sophia Nakazibwe, said fraudsters are increasingly targeting human behaviour rather than banking systems, making customer awareness and vigilance one of the strongest lines of defence.
“Today’s fraudsters are highly organised and increasingly sophisticated. They exploit trust, fear, urgency and even people’s willingness to help others. In many cases, they do not need to hack into banking systems because they manipulate customers into revealing their own passwords, PINs or one-time passwords,” Nakazibwe said.
“That is why awareness is one of the most effective fraud prevention tools we have.”
She advised customers to adopt simple but effective security habits, including never sharing confidential banking credentials, verifying unexpected calls or messages claiming to be from financial institutions, and reporting suspected fraud immediately.
“Stay Switched On’ is ultimately about changing behaviour. We want every customer to pause before responding to unexpected requests for money or personal information, verify the source, and remember that Stanbic Bank will never ask for their PIN, password or one-time password. A few moments of caution can prevent devastating financial losses,” she said.
At the centre of the initiative is the Stanbic Bank Uganda Security Centre, an online platform that provides customers with practical guidance on identifying and preventing common scams, including phishing attacks, unauthorised SIM swaps, ATM fraud and social engineering schemes.
Customers can also access information on how to secure their banking credentials, protect their devices and report suspicious activity.
Through the ‘Stay Switched On’ campaign, Stanbic Bank is seeking to encourage customers to remain alert, informed and proactive as they increasingly adopt digital financial services.
The campaign reinforces the message that while technology continues to make banking faster and more convenient, protecting customers against fraud requires vigilance and shared responsibility.
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