The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced Sunday new incentives to support the country’s digital transformation, including cashless transaction adoption, set to last from 1 January – 31 December 2023.
Under these incentives, Egyptian pound-backed transactions made online will be exempted from all fees and commissions.
Also, all fees and commissions on transactions made through the national Instant Payment Network (IPN) and its related mobile app Instapay powered by the CBE, will be waived.
The action comes within the framework of the National Council for Payments’ strategy to support digital transformation.
According to the Central Bank, since it was launched in April, IPN conducted 8 million transactions with a total value of EGP 45bn. The number of users also increased to 1.2 million.
In the same context, the Central Bank decided to waive all fees for activating electronic collection services via the Internet (e-collection) for micro, small and medium companies, in order to stimulate business through digital financial services.
The CBE also set a new pricing policy for transfers made among mobile e-wallets. It sets a maximum fee of EGP 1 for transfers made between two mobile e-wallets that belong to the same service provider, while it sets a maximum of an EGP 15 for transfers that are not affiliated with the same service provider. There were about 29.5 million e-wallet accounts in the country until October 2022, according to the CBE.
According to the Central Bank, a significant increase was achieved in the value and number of monthly transfers that take place through e-wallets, which reflects the importance of the service for users and their dependence on it greatly in their transactions and financial transfers on a monthly basis, and that it is not negatively affected by setting the aforementioned pricing policy.
It pointed out that these decisions come as a continuation of the efforts of the Central Bank of Egypt to motivate citizens to use digital financial services, and to benefit from the advantages it offers to perform financial services quickly, from anywhere and at any time, which contributes to the transformation of a society less dependent on banknotes, and the promotion of financial inclusion.
