COUNTRY FOCUS: EGYPT
ALEXBANK will launch a series of user-
friendly products designed to appeal
to marginalised communities based in
rural areas who traditionally have been
less inclined to access formal banking
services. Dante Campioni, Managing
Director and CEO of ALEXBANK,
stated that the partnership with NCW
will result in more women adopting
formal banking procedures which could
improve their financial security and also
give a boost to jobs.
Technology will be used via social media
to educate new customers about using
banking products and the terminology
used by financial institutions.
As if to emphasis the bank’s
determination to extend into previously
unreached territories, ALEXBANK has
also announced a multi-year partnership
agreement with Liverpool FC.
As part of the agreement the bank will
become the club’s official card partner
for the Egyptian market. This will see
it utilising technology to launch a
dedicated series of card products.
Mastercard enables a new
era of payments in Egypt
through digitisation
“Egypt is
proving to
be one of the
most popular
locations for
fin-tech start-
ups, competing
with the UAE,
Lebanon and
Jordan.” the past few years, Egypt has taken a
remarkable lead over other markets in
the region by becoming one of the first
countries in the world to embrace an
interoperable mobile ecosystem.
Guided by its vision of a cashless
world and since the beginning of its
operations in the country, Mastercard
has made financial inclusion one of its
top priorities in Egypt. The Central Bank of Egypt established
an interoperable mobile ecosystem
in 2013, meaning that the country
became one of the first worldwide
to embrace a solution of this kind.
Furthermore, the system leverages the
high penetration of mobile phones
and helps to form a foundation to
spur innovation in the payments and
remittance sphere.
Over the years, Mastercard’s collaboration
with the Egyptian Government has
resulted in a number of significant
developments in the local market. Magdy
Hassan, General Manager, Egypt and
North Africa, Mastercard, said: “Over
“This achievement has only been
possible due to the Egyptian
Government’s firm resolve to further
drive financial inclusion in the country,
as envisioned in the Egypt Vision 2030
that calls for a competitive, balanced
and diversified economy.”
Mastercard has worked closely with the
Egyptian Government and embarked
on a number of ambitious programmes
to drive financial inclusion and promote
access to digital payments.
In addition, Mastercard’s work with the
Egyptian Government has enabled
4.6 million government employees
to conveniently withdraw their
salaries from an ATM using their
Mastercard card, which they
can also use to make purchases
at 60,000 point of sale (POS)
terminals across the country.
Hassan added: “Our imminent
plans in the market include
working closely with the Central
Bank of Egypt to contribute to the
objectives of the newly established
National Council for Payments. In
addition, our collaboration with
the Central Bank of Egypt will
also see us discuss new ways to
create and enable a conducive
regulatory environment aimed
at the development of fin-tech
regulations. As it currently stands,
Egypt is proving to be one of the
most popular locations for fin-tech
start-ups, competing with the UAE,
Lebanon and Jordan.” n
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