The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has revealed the completion of the replacement of 10.8 million payroll cards for public workers and pensioners with the national payment card “Meeza” in 2022.
According to the Central Bank, this comes in implementation of the decisions issued by the National Payments Council regarding reliance on a national payment system.
The Central Bank said that more than 4.3 million payroll cards for public workers were replaced, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, pointing out that this project aims to provide an easy, fast and safe electronic way for workers to obtain their financial dues.
It added that 6.5 million pension cards were also replaced, in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Solidarity, as this project aims to integrate pensioners in the banking sector and enable them to obtain their dues in a fast electronic way.
In a related context, the Central Bank revealed that the National Telecom Regulatory Authority of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, in cooperation with the Central Bank, provided inquiry service about electronic wallets on the interactive My NTRA application, through which it is possible to identify electronic wallets registered in the name of each user with mobile companies and banks operating in Egypt, using the ID number and mobile phone number.
The Central Bank also indicated the launch of the “Agri-finTech” innovation initiative to spread innovative financial technology solutions, with the aim of motivating startups to provide innovative solutions in the field of financial technology and the sectors feeding them, to overcome the challenges that workers in the agricultural sector may face.
The Central Bank said that the most prominent of these challenges is the digitization of supply and supply chain financing, the B2B agricultural market, digital financial services, and the provision of innovative solutions for water and waste management.
The Central Bank launched this initiative in cooperation with 5 banks, namely, the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, the Agricultural Bank of Egypt, and Alexandria Bank, and this was also done in partnership with Skaleup ventures that support emerging companies operating in the field of financial technology and the United Nations World Food Program.
The Central Bank of Egypt, in cooperation with the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and the Egyptian Company for Credit Inquiry, is finalizing the technical aspects of a digital lending project based on behavioral assessment, which allows customers to borrow in real time through mobile phone wallets.
The Central Bank said that this project aims to allow banks operating in Egypt to offer nano-loans to customers of electronic mobile phone wallets through secure channels, in accordance with the instructions and digital rules issued by the Central Bank of Egypt regarding the use of alternative data for customer credit evaluation.
Digital lending is based on the use of alternative data for credit evaluation and provides customers without credit balance with an opportunity to borrow based on behavioral evaluation analysis, thus increasing access to the market, achieving financial inclusion and including all segments of society.
The Central Bank also revealed its intention to prepare the final draft of the rules governing the provision of cloud computing services.
The issuance of these rules comes as a result of the rapid development in the field of technology and the increase in the rates of dependence of the banking sector on technology and what it contributes to achieving digital transformation.
The Central Bank also indicated that it is currently preparing the draft regulatory rules governing electronic authentication and electronic approval of terms and conditions.
The Central Bank is also currently establishing an E-KYC “Know Your Customer” system, with the aim of further strengthening the banking sector, by providing secure means that verify customers’ identity and data electronically.
In another matter, the Central Bank revealed that it is working in cooperation with the Financial Regulatory Authority to issue a new law to regulate alternative financing activities and financial technology activities related to banking services.
The Central Bank highlighted the most prominent features of the law, which aims to regulate crowdfunding activities based on lending, peer-to-peer lending, digital association activities, and digital savings activities.
The Central Bank also revealed that it had, in cooperation with the National Council for Women, launched a project to digitize savings and lending groups, which targets women in remote areas through the launch of the “Tahwesha” application.
He pointed out that this application aims to integrate women into the formal financial sector, by forming groups and including them in the electronic application to carry out all transactions related to savings and lending, by merging between the application and their Meeza prepaid cards.
The Central explained that the project targets 12 million women in 13 governorates.
