27 Sep 2021

The CBE (Central Bank of Egypt) has decided to begin allowing contactless payments through cell phones. This comes as part of the government’s strategy to increase financial inclusion, reduce reliance on physical banknotes, adopt the latest payment technologies, as well as transform Egypt into a regional Fintech hub. There are many benefits to this method of payment. First, it will allow merchants to offer an additional method for accepting payment from customers for goods and services, which will facilitate transactions. Also, it drastically reduces the costs of accepting payment, such as buying or renting traditional POS machines, maintaining them, and carrying them around. Small merchants stand to gain further by accepting payment from some customers who might not be carrying cash, or might not have the right amount of change, thereby giving the merchants access to a wider range of customers.

(Source: CBE, Reuters (English), Euronews (English), Mubasher (English), Zawya (English), Egypt Today (English), Sada el-Balad (English), National Council for Media, al-Ahram, Akhbar al-Youm, al-Maal, Amwal al-Ghad, Hapi Journal, Economy Plus Me, al-Masry al-Youm, al-Watan, al-Shurouk, CNBC Arabia)