By Joseph Kiggundu
KAMPALA. Pearl Bank, a homegrown brand, marks a year since it rebranded.
This new identity is more than a name change, but a reflection of who Uganda and its people are: “The Pearl”.
Priscilla Akora, Head of Marketing and Communications at Pearl Bank opens up on one year after the Bank’s rebrand.
Qn 1. Briefly share about the Pearl Bank rebrand journey?
Answer: In June last year, the shareholders approved the name change to Pearl Bank, a strategic milestone in the bank’s journey. This decision was made to align the bank’s identity with its aspiration of becoming a trusted partner in the growth and prosperity of Ugandans.
The rebranding included a new name, logo, and color, along with refreshed messaging, while maintaining the core purpose to serve Ugandans. The new identity reflects the bank’s transformation into a digitally progressive, inclusive, and nationally grounded financial institution. The rebranding also signifies the bank’s readiness to embrace the future with confidence, ensuring long-term growth, relevance, and impact
Qn 2. Why the name Pearl Bank?
Uganda is known as the “Pearl of Africa,” a phrase that reflects the nation’s extraordinary beauty, a wealth of natural resources, diverse wildlife, vibrant people, and rich cultural heritage.
By adopting the name Pearl Bank, we honor this legacy and evoke a deep sense of national pride.
Pearls symbolize purity, wisdom, prosperity, and trust, values that align with our purpose as a Ugandan-owned Bank. The new name, Pearl Bank, not only affirms our authentic local identity but also reinforces our commitment to stability, reliability, and our purpose of fostering prosperity for Ugandans.
Qn 3. You spoke about Fostering Prosperity for Ugandans. Explain this in relation to the Bank’s strategy?
Pearl Bank’s strategic direction is rooted in the core purpose of Fostering Prosperity for Ugandans. This ambition is driven by two overarching goals:
- Driving Sustainable Financial Inclusion: Ensuring that all Ugandans, regardless of location or status, have access to relevant, affordable, and secure financial services.
- Stimulating Entrepreneurship and Services: Supporting the development of Ugandan enterprises and enhancing service delivery to promote economic activity and job creation.
- We bring these to life through our various service offering. For example, we drive sustainable Financial inclusions through our Micro, Small and Medium loans for Agriculture, School fees, Business and many more as well Digital Channels, Wendi Mobile Wallet, Mobile payment solutions, which can all be accessed using the Pearl Bank App, or USSD.
For example; Imagine a small maize farmer in Rakai with our Agri -Value chain Finance, she gets inputs off credit at planting, sells to a contracted buyers and receives payment into a Pearl Bank account and then uses the Pearl App to pay school fees and save on Wendi Wallet for the next season. This single chain drives financial inclusion and entrepreneurship.
Qn 4. Did you open up any branches during this phase?
Yes. We opened up the Luwero Branch in November last year. This was the pilot branch for the rebrand project, bringing the total branch network to 59, inclusive of the new Head Office at Roscoe Road – Kololo, Off Lugogo By Pass. City branch remains at Nkrumah road, ready to serve and support our customers.
The branch network is complemented by the 59 ATMS, over 13,000 Wendi agents, and 14 mobile vans which are in addition to the online and digital banking channels mentioned earlier, like the Pearl Bank App, Online Banking, and Wendi Mobile, Wallet.
Qn 5. Are we safe to say that the rebrand is now complete?
Rebrands, as mentioned earlier, are more than a name change and brand colors.
You must constantly communicate and engage various stakeholders at various fronts.
But in terms of the brand corporate identity, the look and feel is 100% aligned to the new visual identity, and this is across our branches and head office, not forgetting our various touch points like the digital banking channels: the Website, Pearl Bank App, and the ATMs.
Other isolated cases, like co-branding items with other partners, are being aligned with the current identity, but most of the assets, both internally and externally, reflect the new brand identity.
Qn 6. How about the ATM Cards and Cheque Books?
Answer: Currently, we are encouraging our customers to get a Pearl ATM card or cheque book since the PostBank ones are being phased out. Hence, they can visit any of our nearest branches with their ID before Dec 2026 for the cheques and Jan 2027 for the ATM cards.
For further inquiries, they can contact us on: +256417157711, 0800217200 (toll-free), WhatsApp on; +256707993930 or email us at: customerservice@pearlbank.com.
Qn 7. Any final remarks about the transition journey of PostBank to Pearl Bank?
Answer: The rebrand has been a profound milestone in Pearl Banks’ journey, and we thank our customers who have embraced the new identity with positivity. We have received a lot of positive reviews that the new name reflects who Uganda is, the Pearl of Africa.
A big thank you to all the Pearl Bank staff for being ambassadors in representing the Pearl Bank brand out there, and all our partners who have played a key role in ensuring that what was a vision became a reality.
Not forgetting the Bank’s Management and Board, who have been and continue to be key stewards in the transition journey from PostBank to now Pearl Bank.
We also thank our customers, who are central to all we do, and as a bank, we align all our products and service portfolio to our purpose of Fostering Prosperity for Ugandans.