Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 25 | Page 44

COUNTRY FOCUS: EGYPT Bank like an Egyptian: Sector can walk the talk The banking and finance sector in Egypt is going through a transformation with a move away from legacy systems and a rapidly changing payments landscape. Without doubt the emerging sector is becoming more agile and efficient, strategic partnerships are being formed, new products launched and more flexible payment platforms introduced. I t may surprise some but Egypt is currently one of the most popular locations for fin-tech start-ups, competing with supposedly more progressive countries like the UAE. It is also rapidly moving towards a cashless society and is seeking to reach sections of the community previously untapped by the sector. Making ever larger strides into the Egyptian national psyche - individual banks now even have the clout to make official agreements with English premier league clubs – the sector is embarking on an avalanche of ambitious partnerships, not just between organisations in the finance sector but with other verticals. The country has also seen a substantial increase in the use of mobile payment services, while technology helps millions of Egyptian access their money through ATMs. 44 INTELLIGENTCIO Volante Technologies and North African payments expert eVision announce partnership Volante Technologies Inc, a global provider of software for the integration, processing and orchestration of payments and financial messages on premise or as a cloud service, has announced its partnership with eVision to deliver efficient and agile payment solutions across the Egyptian and North African banking and finance markets. eVision is a leading software solution provider in North Africa with a strong presence in Egypt that focuses on solutions to help clients with payments, financial transaction dispute management, anti- money laundering and SWIFT message archiving and workflow. Through interactions with its local client base, eVision recognised a growing appetite for the latest payments processing technologies. After rigorous evaluation, eVision chose Volante to address their clients’ needs in the payments market in an efficient and agile manner. Many banks in Egypt still rely on legacy systems for their payment and remittance “Market participants ... need tools to create more agile, efficient systems meeting the needs of a changing and dynamic payments landscape.” www.intelligentcio.com