The number of credit cards issued by banks operating in the Egyptian market increased to about 4.712m cards by the end of December 2017 compared to 3.859m cards in December 2016, an increase of 853,205 cards, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).
According to a recent CBE report, the five largest banks operating in the Egyptian market accounted for 55.71% of the total cards, or 2.625m, while the top 10 accounted for 60.343%, roughly 2.843m cards.
Furthermore, the number of issued debit cards jumped to 15.138m in December 2017 compared to 12.082m in December 2016, an increase of 3.056m cards.
The top five banks accounted for 58.876% of the total cards (8.913m), while the top 10 accounted for 71.894%, or 10.884m cards.
Meanwhile, the CBE revealed that the number of prepaid cards issued by banks operating in the local market increased from 8.648m cards in December 2016—by 1.799m cards—to reach 10.447m cards at the end of 2017.
The five largest banks account for 85.517% of the total cards (8.934m card), with the top 10 accounting for 88.295% (9.224m cards).
The CBE added in its report that the number of ATMs reached 11,002 in December 2017 compared to 7,645 in December 2016, an increase of 1,170 machines.
The top five banks account for 69.487% of total ATMs, 7,645, while the top 10 account for 81.712%, or 8,990 ATMs.
The report pointed out that the number of points of sale (POS) in Egypt increased to about 66,608 in December 2017 compared to 62,764 in December 2016, an increase of 3,844.
According to the CBE, the top five banks alone account for 96.021% of the total.
The number of employees in the banking sector reached 113,615 at the end of December 2017 versus 111,407 in December 2016, an increase of 2,208 employees, the CBE said in its report.
About 74,709 employees work in the largest five banks in Egypt, which is about 41.991% of the total employees in the sector. In the top 10 banks, about 60,890 people are employed, which makes up 53.593% of the sector’s total workforce.
